Secret Lies
by Midnightxrose14
Summary: Vince's niece and Mark had a secret relationship years ago. Will she find out what really made their relationship end when she's forced to revisit the company she ran away from?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own any WWE superstar's mentioned in this fic_

**This is my first fanfic so reviews are appreciated. =) Tell me what you think so far..if reviews are good I'll upload more.**

She stood in the empty parking lot as the snow started to fall. It was well below freezing and the only thing she had to keep her warm was a thin coat and a snow cap. He left a note in her room telling her to meet him here and in a rush she grabbed the only thing within reach. She regretted it now, wishing she would have grabbed her thicker coat. She had only been waiting about 20 minutes and already she felt as if she were frozen to the spot. Just when she was about to give up and go back to her room she felt a huge pair of arms wrap themselves around her. She smiled, it was him. He turned her around and, seeing how cold she was, took off his thick leather jacket and wrapped it around her. She laughed at how big it was on her.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked. All he had on was a pair of well fitted jeans ("Very well fitted' she thought to herself and laughed) and a black T-shirt.

"I'm fine" he said as he bent down to capture her lips with his own.

"Now wait a second" She said pushing him away, "You had me waiting for like half an hour. It's freezing out! So don't think you can just make it up to me with a simple kiss"

"You're absolutely right" he said as he picked her up in his arms. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waste. When he brought his lips to her's again it was like he was tasting her for the first time. He deepened the kiss and used his tongue to trace her lips, until she opened for him. Their tongues danced together in a rhythmic pattern and just when she thought she could take no more, he broke the kiss. "Better?" he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice. She was breathing heavy and it took her a few moments to open her eyes.

"Much" she said with a ragged breath. He couldn't help but laugh at her, which caused her to push him playfully in the chest.

"I have something for you" he said as he returned her to the ground. He reached for something in his pocket and brought out a long, velvet box. She looked from the box to him with a look that held both a hint of confusion and excitement. When she opened the box her breath caught. It was a delicate silver chain with a beautifully cut diamond pendant. It was breathtaking.

"I-It's beautiful" she managed to stammer out.

"Turn around" he took the chain from the box and placed it around her neck. She touched the stone with tears in her eyes.

"I love it" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck "And I love you." He smiled at her and kissed her deeply.

"I love you too"

RINNGGG!

"Hello?." The groggy voice came across on the phone.

"You're still asleep! We leave in 20 minutes so you better get your ass up!" It was Megan in her usual perky voice.

"Okay, okay. I'm up. I'll meet you outside in 10." -click- Kim sat up in bed. Her head was pounding from last night. "Guess I drank alittle too much" she said to herself. Rubbing her eyes she thought back to the dream she had last night. It was the first night they had confessed their love for one another. It had been years since her relationship with Mark, and she had to admit she never did get over what happened, but what she didn't understand was why he was popping in her head more than usual lately. "It's probably just because I haven't been with a man in awhile." She looked around her room and noticed the clothes she was wearing last night thrown randomly on the floor, along with half of the bed sheets. "At least I THINK I haven't been with a man in awhile" she chuckled to herself. Just then a loud knock came at the door, and before she could answer Megan stormed in.

"You're not even packed yet! Geez what am I going to do with you?" She said, handing her friend a large cup of coffee. "Here, I thought you could use this" she said, laughing.

Kim laughed "Thanks. Hey was I with a guy last..." Megan interrupted her.

"You know, you really need to get going. I'd like to be on the road by at least 2" Her and Megan met in their freshman year of college and, although they were complete opposites, they became very close friends. Megan was a very up-beat and perky girl who liked to socialize and have fun. Kim, on the other hand, was layed back and more of a loner. She laughed at her friend who was sitting beside her on the bed.

"Meg, what are you wearing?"

"Oh, do you like? I got it on sale at this cute little shop this morning" Megan got up and turned around in a circle. "I thought it would look perfect for our trip." She was wearing tight snow pants with fur boots, a hot pink top and a headband adorned in her curly blonde hair.

"Yeah maybe if we're going to a whoring convention in Alaska."

"Oh shut up and get ready!" Megan said throwing a pillow at her friend.

"Okay! I'm going in the bathroom now, just give me a few minutes." with that said Kim grabbed some clothes from her drawer and left to get ready. A few minutes later she emerged from the bathroom in a pair of low riding jeans, a long-sleeved black shirt, and her Harley Davidson boots.

"Finally! Come on Candice is waiting for us in the car." Megan grabbed some of Kim's bags and headed outside. With a quick look around her room to make sure she got everything, Kim grabbed the rest of her bags and was headed downstairs when she thought about her dream again. She hesitated for a few moments, dropped her bags and ran over to the dresser beside the bed. Reaching in the back she pulled out a long velvet box. It was still there. She stood for what seemed like forever just staring at it when Megan's voice came drifting up the stairs again. "Kim! If your not down here in 2 minutes I swear we'll leave without you!"

"Yes mother!" making a quick decision she grabbed the necklace out of the box and put it on.

"I thought I would have to come up there and make sure you two didn't get lost" Candice said with a laugh. Candice had been Kim's longest and closest friend. The two met in high school and had been inseparable ever since. She was also the only one who knew about her and Mark. Candice, or Candy as she liked to be called, was a beautiful woman. With her dark complexion and long legs, she was a knockout. She didn't take crap from anyone though, and would get into a fight in a minute if someone messed with her. She and Kim had that trait in common.

"Well we would have been down here sooner if little miss sleeps all day set her alarm." Megan said, a bit agitated they didn't leave when she wanted to. Kim just shrugged, there was no use trying to defend herself.

"Enough chit-chat, lets go. I need to get out of this town and the sooner the better." Candy said starting the car.

"Yeah you know a vacation in the middle of winter is a bit unorthodox but it was a good idea, Meg. I think we all needed this."

"See? You should listen to me more often" Megan said, smiling proudly to herself. "New York, here we come!"

MEANWHILE

"I'm Vince McMahon dammit! Either you're here for Monday's show or you're all fired!"

"Dad, you can't fire the whole technical team." Stephanie McMahon said to her father when he hung up the phone. "They can't help it if it snows."

"What am I supposed to do then? Most of the equipment is at the arena in New York already and the damn people that operates them isn't! Someone's getting fired over this!" with that he picked up the phone again and began dialing. Stephanie just rolled her eyes. Sometimes her father would get like this and it was best to just leave him alone. A knock came at the door and Steph went to answer it.

"Hey Mark, how are you?"

"Not bad. I heard your dad was asking for me though, so I might not be so good here shortly."

"He's kind of...busy right now." She said with a chuckle. " He should be off the phone soon though."

"Mark! I've been trying to get a hold of you all day" Vince yelled from across the room. "Some events have been changed on the schedule and I had to put you in a match against Edge this Monday in New York. I realize you were supposed to be off and Edge is a part of your stable but I had no choice, half of the roster can't make it because of the storm." Vince glanced down at some paperwork on his desk. "What I think I'll do is have Edge rebel against the Ministry, and you decide to teach him a lesson. Paul and the rest of the Brood will accompany you to ringside."

"Sounds good, can't go a damn place anyway because of this snow. I'm heading out to catch an early flight with Glen and Paul before the storm hits and grounds all the planes. I'll see you at the arena on Monday." He turned, nodded at Stephanie, and was reaching for the door when Sable walked in.

"Hi Mark" she said trying to get his attention. Mark just grunted at her and left.

"Someone's trying alittle too hard" Stephanie thought to herself and laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Did you really have to bring that mut along?" Megan asked, looking at Harley with disgust.

"Yes, he deserves a vacation as much as everyone. And he's not a mut, he's family." Kim said as she rubbed Harley's head. Harley was a mix between a Rotty and a Doberman. He had been given to Kim by her father as a graduation present and had been with her ever since. There was only one other person Harley ever bonded with besides Kim, and that was Mark.

"Well he's slobbering everywhere and it's gross." Kim rolled her eyes.

"Stop pouting, he's not that bad." She laughed when Harley climbed further in the back seat to lick Megan's face, who screamed and tried wiping it off.

"Will you two shut up! I'm trying to find the hotel" Candy was straining to see the road. The storm hadn't hit yet but the snow had gotten worse. "There it is, finally." She started turning onto the road but didn't see the truck in front of her.

"Watch out!" Horns blared and the man in the truck flipped the girls off. "Well that wasn't very gentlemanly" Megan said from the back seat.

"Well fuck you too!" Kim yelled out the window. When they finally got to the hotel Candy found an empty space fairly close to the entrance and parked the car. They were about to grab their luggage when Megan spoke up.

"Shouldn't we find out if they have any rooms available first?"

"Wait..You didn't call to make reservations?" Candy said. "Megan! What are we supposed to do if everything's full? Sleep in the car?"

"Calm down! I'll just run in really quick and use my charm on the man behind the counter to get us a room." As soon as she left the car both girls looked at each other.

"We're sleeping in the car aren't we?" Candy looked back toward Megan walking in the hotel, then back at Kim.

"Yeah" they both started laughing. A few minutes later Megan came back to the car. She sat in the back with her arms crossed over her chest. Kim was the first to respond.

"I think that means you're gonna be my pillow tonight"

"Oh just shut up" Megan said.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Look," She turned to Candy" I saw a gas station when we were coming in. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. Let's go grab a bite to eat then we'll think about what we're going to do."

"Sounds good to me" Candy said and started the engine. A few minutes later they pulled into the gas station. The girl's got out, Megan reaching the door first. "Hey, Meg! We'll be there in a minute, okay?" Megan just waved and walked in.

"Well she sure is in a pissy mood" Kim said with a laugh. Her laugh quickly faded when she saw the look on Candice's face. "What?"

"Don't what me, what do you think you're doing?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she hated when Candice talked to her like she was a child.

"You know what I mean. Why in the hell are you wearing that? Why do you even still have it? I noticed as soon as you came out of the house. I didn't say anything before now because Meg was in the car. I thought you were over him, Kim." Now realizing what her friend was talking about she lowered her head. She hadn't known why she put on the necklace that morning. Hell she thought she was over him too but the dreams she had been having made feelings she thought were long gone resurface. Before she could explain anything to Candice something caught her eye.

"Hey Candy, not to change the subject or anything but isn't that the truck that you almost hit?"

"Fuckin bastards."

"I'll take that as a yes" Kim said with a laugh. "Come on let's get inside." When they got in Megan was at the counter checking out.

"Okay you guys, I got 3 sodas, some slim jims, a couple bags of chips, and ice cream.

"Why would you get ice cream, its freezing out" Candy said.

"I like ice cream, so what?"

"It's like 20 degrees out and we have to sleep in the car! You'll freeze!" Kim just stood with a smirk on her face, watching her friends argue like they always did. She wasn't really listening to what they were saying but thinking about what Candice had said to her outside. Why had she pulled out the necklace? Why did she even still have it? Mark had left her, heartbroken and hurt, years ago. Yeah it was still painful to think about but she worked it out. She was over him, she had to be. Then why was she still wearing this. She touched the stone briefly, remembering the night he gave it to her. Tears were threatening to fall and that was something she just couldn't handle right now. When she looked up her friends were looking at her. Kim could tell they were concerned so she wiped her eyes so the tears wouldn't fall and gave them the best smile she could manage.

"You guys ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, Meg grab your ice cream and lets go" When they walked outside to go to the car they were surprised to see two men leaning against it looking their way.

"Can we help you?" Candy asked when they reached them. It was easy to pick out the annoyance in her voice.

"Well I think you can pretty lady." The man on the right slurred. He was pretty tall, a lot taller than his partner at least. Kim would have guessed he reached 6 and a half feet when he wasn't slumped against the car. " About as much as your little friend over there helped me last night" He said as he gave Kim a wink and licked his lips, something that made Kim's skin crawl.

"Excuse me asshole? I think all that beer has made you alittle confused. Now if you and your buddy here will move, we'd like to leave." Kim went to reach for the door but the taller man grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him roughly. She pushed him away as hard as she could but he didn't budge.

"Let go of her you drunk fuck!" Candice started to say but was stopped short when the shorter man slapped her hard in the face.

"Shut the hell up you bitch!" Candice fell back and Megan ran over to her. Harley started barking insanely and tried getting out of the car. The man that was still holding on to Kim never let his gaze leave her face as his grip tightened on her arm.

"Please...let go of me. You're really hurting my arm." she tried pleading with him and pulling away but his grip tightened even more, something Kim didn't think was possible.

"Now you can't tell me you don't remember me" the stench of alcohol on his breath was almost unbearable as he got closer to her face. "We met at a bar the other night and you were coming on to me pretty strong." as he said this he traced his fingers from his free hand up and down Kim's arm, which made her jerk away from him. "You took me back to your place and I fucked you so good you were beggin for more."

"I must have been pretty damn drunk then you ugly bastard!" she spat in his face.

"What in the hell is going on here!" With the man that was holding her distracted, Kim brought her free knee up and hit him as hard as she could in the crotch. He let her go and doubled over almost immediately. Kim ran over to where Megan and Candice were to make sure they were okay. "Alright you piece of shit, get your buddy and get the hell out of here before I call the police. Now!" The smaller man scurried over to his friend, helped him up, and headed for his truck. A few seconds later you could hear the engine roar and the tires squeal as they raced from the gas station. "Are you alright miss?" Kim looked up to answer the man that had helped them. When she saw his face she gasped.

"Shane?"

"I'm sorry do I know..." then it dawned on him. "Kimberly! Is that you?" he picked her up in his arms and hugged her.

"Uh, Shane? I missed you too but your really hurting my arm."

"Oh I'm sorry!" he set her down quickly and inspected her arm. "It doesn't look too bad. I think you'll just have a nasty bruise there. Did you know those jerks?"

"Apparently more than I'd like to" She said. She couldn't believe that was the guy she had been with the night before they left for New York. She must have been really drunk to have slept with him.

"Um, excuse me?" Kim and Shane looked down toward Megan who was sitting on the ground. Candice was right beside her with her hand over her eye.

"Sorry, this is my cousin, Shane McMahon. Candy you remember him."

"Yeah. Hi Shane." Shane helped her and Megan up.

"Here let me take a look at your eye."

"It's fine, really. I'll probably have a nice bruise in the morning but I'll live." She gave him a small smile. She had always liked Shane, he was a real good guy.

"And you must be Megan" Shane said extending his hand. "Kim has told me a lot about you."

"Only the good stuff I hope" Megan said stepping closer to him and taking his hand in both of hers. Candice walked over to Kim.

"Leave it to Megan to flirt at a time like this" Candice said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Kim just laughed at her friend.

"So what are you doing here, cuz?" Shane asked turning his attention back to Kim.

"A little vacation." she said. "The way things are going we should have just stayed home."

"A vacation in the middle of winter?" Shane asked.

"Her idea" Candice said pointing to Megan. Meg just glared at her, but put on a smile when Shane looked her way. With a laugh Shane turned to Kim again.

"You and your friends have a place to stay?"

"Well we were planning on sleeping in the car" before she could finish Shane interrupted her.

"You came all the way to New York and didn't make any reservations?" Candice just looked at Megan, who blushed and put her head down. "Well I'm not going to let my favorite cousin sleep in a car all night. I'll get you a room at the hotel me and some of the guys are staying at."

"Oh no we couldn't do that. I don't want to impose or anything." Kim told Shane. Both Megan and Candice gave her a look like she was crazy.

"You can sleep in a cramped car with that dumb dog of yours all night, but I'll take the room with the nice bed and hot shower." Megan said as she walked over to Shane.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I agree with Megan." Candice walked over to where Shane and Megan stood.

"You wouldn't be imposing anyway. Half of the guys that were scheduled for the show coming up can't make it because of the snow. So what do you say?" Shane was trying his best to convince Kim to go to the hotel. No way was he going to let her sleep in a car, especially after what happened with those two guys. Kim looked at Shane and gave him a nervous laugh.

"Looks like I'm outnumbered here. Alright, you drive we'll follow" Shane gave Kim a kiss on the cheek and headed to his car. Before they took off Kim had to open the backseat for Harley who was still going nuts and calm him down. When he was settled in the backseat again Kim looked over at Candice. "How about I drive?"

"Sounds good to me" Candice said with a laugh. The girls got in the car and started to follow Shane to the hotel. A few minutes into the drive Candice turned to look at Kim. She made sure Megan wasn't paying attention before she spoke. "I know what your thinking" she whispered. " And there's a really slim chance that he's going to be there." When Kim didn't respond she continued. "For one thing you don't even know if he's still with the business. And you heard Shane, half of the guys can't make it because of the storm." Kim looked over at her friend. Candice had always been good at reading her mind and figuring out what was wrong with her, and this time she hit it spot on. The reason she didn't want to stay at the hotel wasn't because she didn't want to impose, she had been imposing on Shane since she was a child. She was afraid Mark would be there. What if he still worked for the business and he didn't get snowed in. What if he saw her and recognized her, or worse, what if he saw her and didn't recognize her. What if he's living a happy life now and has forgotten about her completely, while she can't seem to get him off her mind. Or what if he's happily married now, moved on, left the past behind him like she couldn't seem to do. "Uh, Kim? Kim!"

"Huh? Oh shit!" Kim slammed on the brakes. She had been thinking so hard she wasn't totally concentrating on the road and almost hit the back of Shane's car. "Sorry, must have zoned out." They pulled in the parking lot of the hotel behind Shane. "Wow he was right, there's hardly anyone here." Kim had stayed at the same hotels as the guys before, and the parking lot was always full. Tonight though there was only a handful of cars.

"See? Now what do you think the chances are that he's going to be here?" Candice said, hoping that what she was saying was true. They all got out of the car, including Harley, grabbed their luggage, and followed Shane inside. He went over to the desk and was talking to the receptionist. It was taking longer than expected and Kim hoped nothing was wrong.

"Okay. I have good news and bad news." Shane said walking over to the girls. "The good news is I got you a room. The bad news, the only rooms available only have one bed."

"I call the bed!" Megan yelled "It's only fair since this vacation was my idea."

"Oh yeah? Well it's only fair that me and Kim get the bed because it's your fault we don't already have a room reserved. We're lucky we ran into Shane."

"Guys! I'll take the couch so you two can have the bed. Besides, I want to catch up with Shane before shutting down for the night." Kim went to grab a cart to put her luggage on. "Candy, do me a favor. When you get to the room give Harley some food. He hasn't had anything since this morning. All the stuff for him is in the blue bag."

"Hey, why'd you ask her and not me?" Megan asked, pouting.

"Because you hate my dog and you'd probably let him starve"

"Well I'm tired" Candy interrupted "Thanks for the room Shane, it was nice seeing you again."

"You too Candice. And it was nice meeting you Megan."

"You too!" she called as she walked to the elevator.

"Harley! Come here boy!" Harley gave a quick bark at Shane and ran toward Candice's voice. As soon as they disappeared in the elevator Kim gave Shane a big hug.

"I missed you so much. I'm so glad I got to see you"

"I missed you too, so did the rest of the family. Dad will be ecstatic once he finds out your here." Shane said while returning her hug.

"Where is he anyway? Isn't he supposed to be here by now?"

"He's having some issues with the tech team that he needs to resolve first then he'll head down here." Shane laughed to himself, remembering how Steph told him how flustered his dad was getting. "Anyway, he should be here by tomorrow."

"Good, I can't wait to see him. Steph too. I haven't talked to her in years." Kim hesitated. She wanted to ask Shane about Mark, whether he was here or not or if he was coming. Shane could tell there was something on her mind by the far away look in her eyes.

"Go ahead. I know there's something you want to say" Shane said with a smirk. Kim smiled.

"Well, I have a question for you." When she didn't continue right away Shane gave a 'Go on' signal with his hand. "Okay. Well I was wondering...Who's all snowed in?" Shane raised his eyebrow at her.

"Well, let's see here. Big Show called earlier to say he couldn't make it, Viscera can't, some of the diva's.." Before Shane could finish Kim interrupted him.

"What about Glen? Or Paul..or, uh, Mark?"

"Glen should be here tomorrow morning. Last I heard him and Paul were going to grab an early flight so they would miss the storm. And Mark didn't get snowed in." Kim's heart jumped at the last sentence. Mark didn't get snowed in. That means he's here, in this very hotel. "Vince gave him a week off though so he won't be here for Monday's show." A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Now she could finally relax knowing she wouldn't see him.

"Hey do you want a drink or something?" she asked. After everything she went through today she needed a drink.

"Yeah sure, but I'm buying" They sat at the small bar in the hotel just talking and catching up. She had really missed Shane. She wished she never would have left but after what happened that night she had to leave.

"Well it's getting late and I don't want to sleep all day. I'll see you tomorrow." with that said she gave Shane a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek. When she got in the room she was greeted by soft snores and Harley waiting by the door. She grabbed a long shirt from her luggage and changed. When she plopped on the couch she tried going to sleep but found the task was simpler said than done. Mark invaded her thoughts again. "This is getting ridiculous" she said to herself. Only 4 more hours and she had to get up. She sighed and layed on her back. Closing her eyes she tried one more time to get some rest.


	3. Chapter 3

-" So it's settled then. After the show I'll meet you back here and we'll go out somewhere." When she didn't receive a response she looked up at him. "What's wrong?" she asked when she saw the look on his face.

"Nothing." was his response. She could tell something was on his mind, and from what she heard from people around the arena he had been distracted all night. She wanted to know what he was thinking so maybe she could help, but she knew not to push him. If he wanted her to know he would tell her. So they sat there for awhile in silence, her sitting on a stack of pallets with her legs around him and him leaning on the wall beside them. They were in the back of the arena where they had most of their secret meetings. It was almost the only place they could be alone together because hardly anyone went back there. Knowing they didn't have much more time she took her hand and removed some of the hair that had fallen in front of his face, causing him to look at her. Then, without saying a word, placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He gave a small smile and touched her cheek with his hand. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, pinning her between the wall and himself. He deepened the kiss, and when he looked back into her eyes he took a deep breath and said, " Look, there's something I have to tell you.." Before he could finish he was interrupted by someone bellowing his name.

"Shit! It's Glen! We'll talk later, okay? Meet me back here after your match." With that said she gave him a smile and a quick kiss, turned on her heels and left.-

"Shit! Megan do you have to leave your shoes in the middle of the floor!" It was Candice. She was going to make some coffee when she tripped and nearly fell over one of Megan's boots." Kim groaned.

"Could a day go by where I don't get woken up by these two?" She thought to herself.

"They're not in the middle of the floor, maybe you should just watch where you're going"

Megan yelled back. Candice threw a shirt at her but it missed and hit Kim in the head.

"What the hell are you two doing?" she asked. She definitely wasn't a morning person and being woken up 2 days in a row by the same people didn't help any.

"You know I think your making a habit of sleeping all day." Megan told her, completely ignoring the question. "Candice and I have already been to breakfast and met some of the guys. Many of whom are totally gorgeous!" Candice went over to the couch and sat beside Kim.

"Please get up" she whispered "I don't think I can take anymore."

"I heard that!" Megan yelled from the bathroom. Candice just rolled her eyes.

"You want some coffee?" she asked, getting up.

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll grab two cups from the lobby.." Candice began before Megan cleared her throat loudly from across the room. Candy sighed, "_Three _cups from the lobby after I take Harley out for a walk."

"Thanks Candy, I didn't really feel like walking down there like this to take Harley out."

"No problem. I'll be back in a few." Candy walked out of the room with Harley close on her heels. As soon as she left Kim's mind went back to the dream she had. It was the last time she had seen Mark. After his match that night she waited for him behind the arena. She was there for about 10 minutes when she heard footsteps coming toward her. Thinking it was Mark she started toward the footsteps. The man that came forward was not Mark though, it was Paul, Mark's manager. She looked at him, puzzled, and asked what he was doing back there. He explained to her that he knew about her and Mark's relationship, that Mark had told him what was going on from the very beginning. He told her to sit next to him on the curb and began to explain what Mark had planned on telling her.

"Mark was going to tell you earlier but your meeting got cut short. Then before he left tonight, asked me to talk to you. He thought this way might be easier for the both of you." clearing his throat he continued "He doesn't wish to see you anymore. He realized that this..relationship is going nowhere, and it's time you realized it too." Kim looked at Paul with confusion.

"You're lying. If that's really how he felt he would tell me himself." Tears started to sting her eyes. This couldn't be true, she knew Mark too well.

"Oh, poor girl" Paul said, patting her leg, "he wanted to avoid just this. The tears, the emotions. You're just too attached. You have to know he was only with you for one reason." Kim looked up at him. He had to be lying, Mark would never do that to her. "You've been here long enough to realize what these men do to poor women like yourself. You were his play thing, nothing more. Besides, he needs to concentrate on his career right now. He has a chance to make a name for himself, and doesn't need any distractions."

"Distractions? Is that what you think I am?"

"I don't think that my dear. I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Kim got up quickly, tears falling from her eyes and turned to Paul.

"You're lying, Paul. I know you are. Mark would never do that to me. I know him and he would never do something like that." With a sigh Paul grabbed something from his breast pocket.

"He said you might say that, so he gave me this." Out of his pocket Paul pulled out a ring. She stumbled back a bit, not believing what she saw. It was the ring she gave Mark soon after he had given her the necklace. She told him to wear it on his middle finger, so no one would get suspicious and he always did. That way she had the necklace and he had the ring, both a symbol of their love. She took the ring from Paul's hand and looked at it. Another noise came from beside the building and both looked up. It was Christian.

"Kim," he started, looking at her with guilt filled eyes "What Paul says is true. I overheard Mark talking about you with some of the guys after one of the shows last week, and I was there when he asked Paul to talk to you and gave him that ring" When he tried reaching out for her she jerked away. With tears running from here eyes she dropped the ring into the dirt.

"I-I have to go" she finally got out. She turned around and ran. Away from the two men, away from her uncle's business, and away from Mark.

"Looks like that ass from last night did a number on your arm there." Kim was brought out of her thoughts by Megan's voice.

"Huh?"

"Your arm..it looks pretty bad" she looked down at her arm. She hadn't really payed attention to it since she left Shane last night, and Megan was right, it was bad. The bruise was on her upper arm, right under her shoulder, and you could distinctly see finger marks from where the drunk had grabbed her.

"Great. I'll just have to wear a longer shirt to cover it up. How did Candy's eye look this morning, I didn't pay any attention when she was here"

"Not bad. She's had worse" Megan said with a laugh "She was able to cover most of it up with concealer, but you can tell she got hit pretty hard. It's swollen under her eye and the bruise goes down and across her cheek."

Meanwhile Candy was downstairs near the lobby when Harley smelled something and took off running down the hallway. "Seriously?" Candice said aloud to herself "Harley! Come back here!" she yelled as she went running after him. "Oh, she's gonna kill me if I lost her dog" She slowed down when the hallway split into two different directions. She looked down both and started to panic when she didn't see Harley. Suddenly she saw him running down the left hall and started chasing him again. When she finally reached him he was sitting in front of someone's door, whining and scratching at the wood. "There you are," she said, relieved she had found him. "What's gotten into you?" she grabbed him by the collar and started leading him away from the door when it suddenly opened. Candice looked up. She was about to apologize to whoever it was, thinking Harley must have woken them up with his antics, when her breath caught in her throat. "Oh my god." Was all she was able to say as her hand came over her mouth in disbelief.

"Kim! Remember I told you Candy and I went down and met some of the guys? Well when she went to use the bathroom this guy walked in the lobby and you should have seen him!" Candice walked in then, leading Harley in by his collar.

"Everything okay?" Kim asked,interrupting Megan. She didn't like the look on Candice's face.

"Um, Yeah" She knew she had to tell Kim what happened, she just didn't know how.

. "Anyway," Megan continued "He was so hot, and I think you two would make a good pair. That is if I don't go after him first." she chuckled at herself then.

"Megan, shut up for a second" Candice said. She had to tell Kim now, before she went downstairs and found out for herself. "Kim, there's something I have to tell you."

"Can I at least finish telling her about this guy before you go and change the subject? Anyway he was super tall and had the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen on a man! His arms were covered in all these tattoos, and built? He was built like a.. well I don't exactly know what but he was built. I bet he could have taken out half the guys in the lobby by himself!" She slumped back in the chair thinking about the mystery man. "His hair was long and black, but it was tied back in a bandanna so I couldn't exactly see how long it was. He had a goatee that was kinda long and trimmed to a point and.." Suddenly Candice realized who Megan was talking about. He must have come on the flight with Glen and Paul and got in early this morning.

"Megan, shut the hell up!" Candice yelled. She had to say something now before Kim realized who Megan was talking about.

"What's your problem?" Megan yelled back "I just thought Kim would have found him intriguing. She hasn't been on a date in like centuries!"

"Why don't you say that alittle louder, I don't think the people in the hotel down the street heard you!" She hated when Megan brought up her lack of success with men. "As for you, why are you getting so mad? She was just excited about a guy I might find attractive." Candice ran her hands through her hair and gave Kim a worried look.

"Look, there's something you need to know. That man, the one Megan was talking about.."

"Go on," Kim said, getting a bit annoyed that her friend couldn't just come out and say whatever she needed to tell her.

"That man.." another hesitation. "Well you know him." When Candice saw that Kim still didn't know what she was talking about she inhaled deeply. "Kim...It's Mark."


	4. Chapter 4

Kim's eyes got wide. This couldn't be happening. Shane had told her that Mark was off for a whole week, so he couldn't be here. Her heartbeat quickened and her mouth grew dry. "How sure are you" she said barley above a whisper.

"It was him. Harley ran from me in the lobby and stopped in front of someone's door. When I tried pulling him away Mark answered. I guess Harley recognized the smell or something."

"But you can't know for sure" Kim quickly stated. "It's been years since either of us has seen him. You can't know." She put her head in her hands.

"I know this is hard for you, " Candice started, "and I'm sorry we made you come. We should have just stayed in the car. But maybe we could find another hotel today. It's early enough we could..."

"I want to go" Kim said in a hushed tone, and looked up at Candice. "I don't want another hotel, I don't want to be here any longer. I want to go home."

"Wait a second! Can someone please explain to me what's going on? Why are we leaving? We haven't even been here for a whole day!" Megan yelled. She was confused, and she sure as hell didn't want to leave yet. Kim went into the bathroom so she could be alone, and Candice looked after her, worry evident on her face. "Well?" Megan said impatiently, "What does the guy I saw have to do with us leaving so soon?" Candice sighed. She knew Megan would have to find out sooner or later, she just hated the idea of being the one to have to tell her. She knew she would be upset knowing they had kept a secret from her, especially one as big as this.

"Okay," she said, "But you have to keep your mouth shut until I finish." Megan nodded in agreement and Candice took in a deep breath. "Well you know when Kim's father died her mom turned into..well a bitch." Megan nodded again. She remembered the hell Kim went through with her mother. When they roomed together in college Kim would tell her stories of how her mother beat her and called her all these horrible names. It was around Christmas time and Kim left to visit her mom, thinking maybe things had changed. When everyone was scheduled to come back, Kim never did. The two met up again a few years later and Kim explained to her that when she went back, she found her mom lying on the couch unconscious. She called an ambulance and found out her mom had overdosed on heroin and almost died. She helped her home and decided not to go back to college so she could help her mother. She stayed clean for a whole year with Kim's help. When Kim came home from work one night though, she found her mom in the kitchen. She had been drinking and doing drugs all night. Kim asked what she thought she was doing and her mom started to scream at her, calling her a whore and telling her to leave. When Kim tried talking with her, she slapped her in the face. Her mom tried apologizing as soon as she did it, but Kim stopped her. She had enough. She packed all her things and left town to live with family. That's all she ever told her and, knowing it had to be a sore subject, Megan never asked to know more.

"When she realized she couldn't take anymore, she left town. She bought a plane ticket and flew to where the next wrestling event was scheduled, knowing Vince would be there. He of course welcomed her with open arms as did the whole family. She would room with Stephanie or Shane at the hotels they would stay at, and whenever they went to a place where Vince had a house rented, he would let her stay there. He wouldn't let her out of his sight, and when he had business to attend to, Shane or Steph was to be with her. I guess he didn't trust any of the guys. He knew Kim had been through hell, and the last thing she needed was a bunch of overgrown men harassing her. That and he was just protective of her. Before he passed away, he had promised Kim's dad that he would watch over her, and Vince did everything in his power to keep that promise. Every man backstage knew not to even think about making a move on her." Candice smiled alittle, thinking of how Kim would complain that her uncle was being too overprotective. "Vince even sat down and made it clear to every male superstar backstage that if any one of them made a move on his niece or decided to take advantage of her, that person would be fired. No questions asked. Well one day when Vince had a meeting Kim managed to convince Steph and Shane to let her walk around a bit by herself. She said she wanted to explore the place without someone breathing down her neck. When she was walking through the halls she got lost and happened to run into Mark, the guy you saw in the lobby. She asked him if he could help her by showing her the way back to Vince's office so he walked her back. She told me on the phone that night how much of a hottie she thought he was," Candice couldn't help but laugh. She thought back to how much Kim gushed about this guy over the phone. "Over the next few weeks the two happened to 'bump' into each other more often. She was really taken by him. Soon they started meeting secretly in the back of the building or in his dressing room. She knew that if they got caught he would get fired, and she even attempted to break things off once, fearing that seeing her would end his career. So she stopped seeing him for a few weeks and trust me, it drove her mad. She'd call me every night saying how much she missed him. She finally broke down and when she was able to get away from her family, slipped a note under his dressing room door. She told him that if he really wanted to be with her, he would meet her in the back of the building after the final match of the night. If he valued his career over a relationship with her, she would understand and they would pretend like none of it ever happened."

"Well?" Megan gushed when Candice didn't continue right away, "What happened! Did he show up?" Candice just rolled her eyes and was about to continue when the bathroom door opened.

"Yeah he did," Kim said with a tear stained face. She sat in the chair beside her friends. "My heart started to sink because I thought he wouldn't show and I would have to pretend like none of it ever happened. Then I saw him. He walked up to me with his hands in his pockets, and we just stood there staring at each other. I finally broke down and ran up to him. When I wrapped my arms around his neck he lifted me off the ground and we kissed. We kissed for the first time under the moonlight in the back an arena." She smiled slightly, letting a single tear fall before wiping her eyes. "We were together for a few years, keeping our relationship a secret from the world, until..until he decided he didn't want to be with me." When she saw Megan was watching her intently she knew she had to explain the hardest part. "I was waiting for him one night in the back of the arena when his manager showed up instead.."

"Is that the short chubby guy he was with earlier?" Megan asked. Candice just nodded at her. She knew Paul from the few times she had visited Kim at the shows. She never did like him.

"He came up to me and told me Mark didn't want to see me anymore. He was done with me, had his fill, and wanted to focus on his career rather than some woman. He even gave me the ring I had given to Mark as proof. I couldn't stay there anymore. I told Vince I was offered a job in Seattle and went to stay with Candy until I got back on my feet. I haven't been back since."


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm going down to the lobby," Candice said, "I'll get us checked out and then we'll leave." When she left Kim saw Megan was still looking at her.

"What?"

"I'm just confused. You're one of the toughest people I know but you're going to let some guy you were with years ago chase you out of having a fun vacation with your friends."

"Look Meg, it's just..." before she could finish Megan cut her off.

"I know what it is, you're scared." She looked over at Kim, who had her head down. She went over and knelt in front of her friend. "Look, I know you've been through some rough shit. I can understand that. But there's no sense in running away. Okay, he dumped you. So what?" She lifted Kim's head so she was looking at her "You're better than that, and you're better than him." Kim couldn't help but give her friend a small smile. She was right, there was no reason in running. She'd just have to ignore the fact that he was there and focus on having some fun for once. She hugged her friend tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Anytime." Megan pulled away slightly. "So what do you say. Do you wanna pack all this stuff up and leave for the long drive back home..or do you want to stay here, with your friends, and have the best winter vacation ever?"

"Stay" Kim said smiling. Candy walked in when she said this.

"Well good thing you think that because we couldn't leave if we wanted to. It's snowing pretty bad out there, I think the storm started."

"That's okay" Megan said perking up a bit "We can relax and watch some T.V tonight, we'll make it a girl's night. Maybe tomorrow the weather won't be so bad so maybe we can do some shopping." They all spent the night in the room watching T.V and chatting. Around 10 Kim got up and headed for the door.

"Where you going?" Candice asked looking up from the book she was reading.

"I'm craving something..sweet." she said with a chuckle, "I saw I vending machine not too far from the room so I'm gonna grab a chocolate bar or something. You want anything?"

"Nah. Meg?...Megan!" Megan looked up sharply from the T.V. A horror movie was on and she was half buried under the sheets with a pillow held tightly against her.

"What!"

"Do you want anything from downstairs?" Candice couldn't help but laugh at her. She was such a wimp when it came to scary movies. She could never watch the whole thing with both eyes open.

"No I'm good." She jumped when someone screamed in the movie. "Now you made me miss the best part!" She yelled at Candice.

"Like you were watching it anyway with the pillow over your face!"

"I'll be right back" Kim half laughed from the doorway. When she stepped out into the hall she shivered. "Man it's cold out here" she said out loud. The fact that she was wearing nothing but a small black tank top and thin pajama pants didn't help any. She walked down the hallway,until she came around a corner and spotted the vending machine. "Finally" she thought. She put the money she had in her hand into the vending machine and pressed the button. Nothing. She pressed it again. Still nothing. "You've got to be kidding me." She sighed. " Now I have to go all the way downstairs for a stupid candy bar" When Kim got down in the lobby she spotted another vending machine. "Please work" she whispered as she went to put in her dollar. Before she could insert the dollar in the machine she heard voices coming from the front entrance. She thought she recognized one of the voices and was about to peek around the corner when two figures stepped in front of her and caused her to yell in surprise.

"Kimberly!" said the man on the right as he extended his arms. "Shane told me you were here so I grabbed the next flight in so I wouldn't miss you. How are you hunny?" as he said this he grabbed Kim and gave her a big bear hug.

"Hi Uncle Vince!" Kim said laughing. She wrapped her arms around him so she could hug him back. "I'm doing pretty good, how are you?" Suddenly Vince's face got stern as he looked at her arm.

"From what Shane told me you're not doing all that great." He lifted her arm so he could get a better look and touched the black and blue finger marks lightly. Kim now silently wished she would have put on something to cover her arms before she left. "Now you just tell me who did this to you and I'll take care of the rest." She couldn't help but smile at him. He was always looking out for her.

"Really Uncle, it's not that bad. Besides, I don't know the guy's name." She then remembered that her uncle had come in with someone. She hadn't payed any attention to him and, hoping to change the subject, turned to see who it was. When she looked into his face she didn't seem to recognize him. His hair was black and pulled off his face and although most of his body was hidden by a long trench coat, she could tell he was very well built. While she was racking her brain trying to figure out where she had seen this man before, she happened to look up into his eyes. Her own got wide as she finally realized who was standing before her. His appearance may have changed a lot but his eyes were the same as the day they met. Vince turned and saw they were looking at each other.

"This is my niece, Kimberly." he said, looking at the man beside him. "She was with the company a few years ago but had to leave...what did you say you had to leave for again hunny?" Kim had to think for a few seconds about what she had told her uncle when she left before it came to her.

"A new job" she whispered.

"That's right. She left for a job opening in Seattle I think it was, and I don't think you two ever got a chance to meet. Kim, this is an associate and a good friend of mine, Mark Calaway."

"A new job, huh?" Mark said looking down at her. She looked away quickly and nodded her head. "Well it's nice to meet you Kimberly. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going. Vince I'll see you around." Kim could feel him glare at her one last time before he walked off. Saying her goodnights to Vince and making plans to meet him the following day, Kim quickly left for her room. When she got inside she shut the door and slumped against it.

"What wrong?" Candice asked from the couch.

"I saw Vince when I went downstairs."

"That's great! How is he?"

"He's fine. And so is Mark, who was with him when we bumped into each other."

"Oh no," Candice whispered from across the room. She made her way over to where Kim was on the floor and sat beside her. "Are you gonna be okay?" she asked.

"I have to be, I have no other choice. It was just so..horrible! I didn't know who it was at first because he's changed so much, but when I recognized him it took me back. I couldn't believe it and I must have stood there like an idiot just staring at him." she rubbed her face with her hands and let out a long sigh. "This is going to be harder than I thought" she said as she rested her head on her friends shoulder.


	6. Chapter 6

"You alright?" Glen asked as he entered Mark's room. They had just gotten back from the gym and throughout their workout Mark had seemed...distracted, so Glen decided to check and see if he was okay. When he entered the room he saw Mark with his hand on the opposite wall and his head down. His dark hair had cascaded in front of his face, hiding his features from Glen's view. Mark picked his head up and ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, avoiding his friends glare.

"Really? Because you don't seem fine." Glen had been close friends with Mark for years, and he knew him enough to know when something was bugging the hell out of him. "You were barley able to focus enough at the gym today, now what in the hell is going on?" When he didn't answer Glen continued "It wouldn't have anything to do with Vince's niece visiting would it?" Mark snapped his head toward Glen and glared at him with eyes full of acid.

"Drop it Glen," he said in an evil tone. He grabbed his jacket off the chair and pushed passed his friend. He needed some air to clear his mind. Glen just shook his head. He knew about the relationship Mark and Vince's niece had years ago. He was the only one Mark had told. He had been crazy about that girl and spent every minute he could with her, which confused Glen even more when they broke up. He never did get the whole story from his friend about what happened, and assumed from how Mark just acted he never would. Meanwhile, Mark was outside leaning against the wall near the hotel entrance. He had his head leaned back and his eyes closed when someone approached him.

"Hi Mark" It was Sable. Mark let out a long sigh. This woman had been trying to get with him for years, even when he was with Kim. He remembered how mad she would get if she saw Sable approach him backstage, and it pissed her off even more to know she couldn't do anything about it. He thought back to one of the conversations they had:

"I swear if she comes up to you one more time I'm going to seriously kill her." They were in his dressing room as he was getting ready for his upcoming match. She stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest as he laced up his boots. He couldn't help but laugh at how mad she was getting.

"And what would your motive be? That you're dating...The Undertaker" he said in his best Undertaker voice as he rolled his eyes in the back of his head. Kim giggled. She loved when he spoke in his character's voice. When he heard her laughter he reached out and pulled her onto his lap. He brought his head close and spoke in her ear. "You have nothing to worry about" he said and turned her around to look in his eyes. She let out a sigh.

"I know. It just bugs the hell out of me knowing I can't say anything because I know if she knew, she'd tell Vince."

"Along with everyone else backstage. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she went out to the ring and announced it to the crowd."

"You're not helping any Mark" she chuckled as she leaned back in his arms. He held her tightly against him as he spoke.

"Let's just hope if I turn her down enough, she'll get the hint and go find someone else to harass." They both laughed as they waited for his match to begin.

Mark was brought out of his thoughts again by Sable's voice.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she walked toward him. He opened his eyes and looked down at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." then when she continued to stand there he asked, "Is there something you wanted?"

"Well.." she paused for a few seconds, "A few of us are going to the bar around the corner tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to go." He looked back at her. _"This woman never quits"_ he thought to himself. He did need to unwind a bit though, and a beer sounded like just the medicine he needed.

"Alright" he said and watched a smile spread across her face, "I'll meet you down in the lobby around 8."

"Well if you need to reach me or anything beforehand," she grabbed a pen and a slip of paper out of her purse and wrote down a number, "here's my room number" he just watched as she folded the paper and slipped it in the front pocket of his jeans, letting her hand linger for a little too long. When she pulled away she gave him a seductive smile and walked back in the hotel. He just shook his head and headed back to his room.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!"

"No! Remember the last time I went? I ended up in bed with sir fucks-a-lot." Megan had been trying to convince Kim all morning to go to the local bar with her and Candy, but to no avail.

"You just said you needed to find something fun to do! Bars are fun, Kim."

"She's right, it'll be fun. Besides we wont let you go home with any strange men again" Candice laughed. She knew her friend needed to get out, they all did. Kim just stood by the door and was about to tell them no again when a shrill knock made her jump. She opened the door quickly and was greeted by Stephanie, who gave her a hug as soon as she saw her.

"Shane told me what room you were on so I had to stop by" she said as they continued hugging.

"I'm glad you did! I missed you so much!" when they pulled away Kim motioned her inside. "I want you to meet some friends of mine. You remember Candy," Candice waved and smiled at Steph who returned the gesture, "And this is Megan" Megan waved as well.

"How would you guys like to join me and my dad for breakfast?"

"That'd be great. You two up for breakfast?" Kim asked her two friends.

"Yeah, I'm starving" Megan said as she got up.

"Me too." Candice followed Megan and Stephanie outside when Kim yelled after them.

"You go ahead. I'm just going to change real quick and I'll be right down." When they left Kim grabbed one of her bags and went into the bathroom. She got a quick shower, put on a pair of ripped jeans and a T-shirt, and headed out of the room. She closed the door behind her and turned around, only to run into what felt like a brick wall. "You wanna watch where the hell you're..." she trailed off when she saw who she had run into. Mark looked down at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Watch where the hell I'm what?" he said in a deep voice. She saw him glance at her arm briefly before returning his gaze to her face.

"Nothing. I'm sorry." she replied as she put her head down and started to walk away.

"Kim.." she spun around when she heard him say her name. There was a slight pause before he spoke.

"Watch where you're going." There was no smile, nothing to say he was joking. Just a serious look on his face that gave her chills. He turned around and left her standing in the hallway looking after him. After a few moments had passed she found herself getting angry. How dare he talk to her like that after all these years.

"Asshole" she said out loud before storming off toward the elevators.

"There you are, I was starting to get worried." Vince said as he watched his niece enter the little diner in the hotel and sit down.

"I'm fine" she said, trying to give her uncle a smile, "I just had to grab a quick shower and get changed." Candice looked over at Kim and gave her a questioning look. Kim just shook her head, she'd tell her about what happened later. When they finished Vince paid and the girls thanked him. Megan and Candice walked with Stephanie while Kim stayed behind and walked with Vince.

"So I was thinking," he began "We have a show Monday at the arena near here and I was wondering if you wanted to go. It would be like old times, what do you say?"

"I don't know uncle, I mean it's nice and everything but.."

"You're friends can come too." he stopped and took both her hand in his. "It would really mean a lot to me." she looked into his eyes and sighed.

"Alright" she said smiling. "I'll be there."

"Great! I'll have one of my driver's pick you girls up around 5."

"Oh no. You don't have to go through the trouble of having us picked up. We can just take Candy's car."

"Nonsense. You're my niece and I'll have you picked up." he saw she was about to interrupt again when he put a hand up. "No arguing." he smiled and gave her a hug. "I've got some business to attend to but I'll see you later today."

"Okay, see you then." she smiled at her uncle as he walked away. He was always so stubborn. Just then Megan ran up to her.

"Hey! The snow eased up some so you wanna see if we can hit some stores?" Kim laughed at her friends eagerness.

"Sure, let's go" The girls piled in Candy's car and headed into town. They had already been in 3 stores when Megan finally found something she liked.

"It's perfect!" she exclaimed, holding up a tight knit sweater to Kim.

"For me? What the hell am I going to wear that for?"

"For when we go out to the bar tonight. Please! It'll be fun and you'll look great." She gave Kim the biggest smile she could muster.

"Oh okay, fine. I'll go." Megan screamed in excitement and began jumping up and down. Candice was looking through some clothes and just rolled her eyes.

"Now go try it on! I wanna see how it fits." Megan eagerly pushed Kim toward the dressing room. When she walked out Megan gave her applause in approval. Kim smiled and went over to check out the outfit in the mirror. It was a bit tight, but not too bad. The sweater itself was a soft cotton material and the shade of green accented her eyes. She had to admit, it didn't look all that bad. After stopping at a few more stores they were about to call it quits when Kim remembered the show Vince had invited them to.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you two. After breakfast, Vince stopped me and invited us to the show on Monday. He said someone would be there to pick us up around 5." Megan gasped.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner! Now I have to find an outfit for it!"

"You bought 10 outfits today!" Candice yelled "Wear one of those!"

"I can't wear one of those! I have to have something special with all those hot guys around."

"Fine but hurry up." Candice actually didn't mind Megan shopping around some more because she found it to be the perfect opportunity to ask Kim about earlier.

"So what was wrong when you came down for breakfast?" Kim looked over at her friend and roller her eyes.

"I ran into you know who when I was heading downstairs. And when I say I ran into him, I mean literally ran into him." Candy looked at her wide eyed as she continued. "I was about to tell him off when I realized who it was, and decided against it. So as I'm walking away he calls after me and tells me to watch where _I'm_ going, then just tramples off. What an ass." she said throwing a shirt she had picked up back on the shelf.

"Sounds like you need to blow off some steam."

"Yeah. I'm just glad we're going out tonight so I don't have to be stuck in the same building as him."

****Thanks for the reviews so far! They mean a lot. I'm working on the next few chapters so let me know what you think so far and I'll try to update soon! **


	8. Chapter 8

"So how do I look?" Megan twirled around the hotel room in one of her new outfits.

"Stunning" Candice said without looking at her.

"You didn't even look!"

"We're going to a bar, not a ball. Besides after the first hour everyone's going to be too drunk to notice what you're wearing." Just then Kim came out of the bathroom. "Whoa, look at you!"

"Thought you said looks didn't matter" Megan complained.

"Oh I never get to see her get dressed up." Kim smiled at Candice.

"You really like it?" She was wearing the sweater Megan had picked out earlier that day with a pair of light blue jeans that were ripped slightly on both legs. She had on a pair of black boots with a black studded belt that hung loosely on her hips. Her long dark hair was down and fell loosely across her shoulders.

"Well of course we like it, I picked it out." Megan said proudly. "Anyway, we should get going, it's already almost 8:30."

"Hey I was thinking, instead of walking why don't we just take my car. I know it's right around the corner but it's freezing out and the sidewalks are probably still alittle icy." Candice stated from across the room.

"Sounds good to me, I didn't feel like walking anyway." Kim grabbed her phone and her wallet from the table. "Are we ready?"

"Yes! Now come on and lets go already." They all went downstairs and headed to Candy's car. It only took them a few minutes to find the bar so they parked in the parking lot and headed inside. Kim could feel people staring at her and her friends as they walked in. She started to feel a bit uncomfortable so she quickly found a small table near the far side of the bar and sat down.

"What can I get you lady's to drink?" asked one of the waiters. He asked the question to the group but his eyes never left Kim.

"I'll take a Shirley Temple." Megan piped from her seat. Candice looked at her and shook her head.

"You're at a bar, and you order a non-alcoholic drink?"

"It's not required to drink alcohol at a bar Candice. Besides, I don't want to get trashed just yet."

"Whatever." Candice looked up at the waiter and saw he was still looking at Kim, who had her head down and was pretending to look through her wallet. "Um, I'll have a gin and coke."

"And for you pretty lady?" Kim felt him stare at her the entire time he was taking their order, and it was hard not to blush.

"I'll have a gin and coke also, thank you." He gave her a smile and walked off to get their drinks. As soon as he was out of earshot both Candice and Megan burst out laughing. "What?" Kim said, while the red stain on her cheeks grew bolder.

"You didn't see him? He couldn't take his eyes off of you!" They quickly shut up when the waiter came back. He handed the other two girls their drinks and when he set Kim's drink down, he slipped a small note under the glass. He gave her another smile and walked off. "Read it!" Candice almost yelled.

"Yeah what does it say" Megan added with a giggle. Kim bit her lip and opened the note. She laughed when she saw what was written inside.

"It's his name and a number with a little winky face." She gave the note to her friends so they could check it out, and couldn't stop laughing when they saw it was true.

"Wow. You sure do attract the winners." Megan said once she regained composure.

"Oh don't I know it. " Kim said sarcastically. All of a sudden Candice got a serious look on her face. "Candice what's wrong?" Kim asked while turning around to see what she was looking at. What she saw come through the door made her sick. It was Mark with a few of the guys from the arena, but that's not what bothered her. As he walked further in the bar she saw a woman was tagging along beside him, and not just any woman at that. Sable was basically glued to his side. Kim turned around abruptly, but was at a loss for words.

"What? What is it?" Megan asked, trying to see what her friends had spotted.

"It's Mark, and he's with the whore of the WWF." Candice said when Kim didn't respond right away. When Megan still looked confused Candice continued. "She's always been trying to get with Mark, even when him and Kim were together, and because of that Sable kind of became Kim's silent enemy. She couldn't say anything about it so she just had to watch her try and put the moves on Mark. It really pissed her off."

"Well I'm glad she finally got what she wanted." Kim said as she took a long swallow of her drink. The rest of the night went on without any problems. The girls were asked to dance a few times and accepted almost all of them, and the rest of the time they just sat at the table talking and having a great time. Mark never entered her mind, that was until Kim happened to glance over at his table and saw him put his arm around Sable. For some reason she almost felt like crying.

"Kim?" Megan stated when she saw the look on her friends face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said and quickly turned around. She ordered another drink from the hostess passing by.

"Would one of you pretty things like to dance?" a rather tall man had come up to their table and drunkenly leaned against it.

"Sure, I will." Candice said and looked at her friends. "You don't mind do you?"

"No go ahead" Megan smiled. She looked back over at Kim. "I'm going to the bathroom real quick, I'll be right back, okay?" When Kim nodded she took off in search of the restroom. Kim sat there alone for a few minutes, watching Candy dance with a few guys, when she noticed the keys Candice had left on the table. She knew she was pretty drunk, but it didn't matter. She didn't want to go back to the hotel yet but she knew she couldn't stay there any longer. When she saw Mark with his arm around Sable, laughing and having a great time, all sense of fun had left her body. She and Mark weren't at the table anymore, and she wasn't about to wait around until they returned. She grabbed the keys off the table and stood up to leave. It took her a few minutes to regain her balance, but once she did she headed for the door. _"I'm not that drunk. Candice and Meg will just have to walk or get a ride back to the hotel from someone else. I just can't sit around and wait for them." _she thought and walked out of the bar.


	9. Chapter 9

As soon as Mark entered the bar Sable started to hang all over him. Apparently she wanted everyone to know who she was with tonight. Mark didn't particularly care for it, all he wanted was a few beers with the guys.

"I'm going to go freshen up a bit. I'll meet you at the table." she said as she ran a finger down his chest. When she disappeared into the bathroom Glen looked at his friend.

"Sable, huh?" Mark just shrugged. He didn't know why he agreed to come here with her. It wasn't like he didn't find her attractive, he just wasn't in to her like that. He never had been. They grabbed a table near the back and sat down. A few others joined them including Shawn, Bradshaw, and Ken Shamrock. Glen sat right across from Mark while Ken and Bradshaw sat on either side of him. Shawn grabbed an extra chair and sat at the end of the table. A few more moments passed before Sable returned, and Mark had to scoot over to let her in.

"So everyone ready for the show on Monday?" she asked trying to make conversation. What she got back was a bunch of mumbles and grunts. None of the guys liked her all that much, even if she was hot. Her snobbish and stuck up attitude usually overshadowed her good looks. Shawn had started in on telling jokes to change the subject when Mark caught Glen look at something across the bar and smile. He raised his eyebrows at his friend who just nodded in the other direction. Mark turned his head slightly to see what Glen had found so interesting when he spotted a table across the room where two guys were leading a couple of girls over to the center of the room to dance. He didn't think much of it until he saw one of the girls was Kim. He whipped his head around and glared at Glen. If looks could kill Glen would have been dead right then and there. He just leaned back, beer in hand, and smiled at Mark.

_ "This is going to be interesting" _he thought as he continued smiling. Mark leaned back and took a long swallow of his beer. Over the next few hours Mark had tried taking his mind off of the table on the other side of the bar but caught himself glancing in that direction occasionally. Shawn had started telling one of his stories and Mark had got so engrossed he didn't even realize when he put his arm around Sable. The whole table roared with laughter as Shawn finished his story.

"I need to step outside," Mark said still laughing a bit, "I'll be right back." as he got up Sable went to follow him.

"I guess she thought that meant she should go too" Glen said to noone in particular. The other three men just chuckled as Shawn went back to telling his stories. As Mark exited the bar he went over to the side of the building and leaned against it, looking out across the distance He hadn't seen Sable follow after him and was alittle startled when she spoke.

"Why'd you come out here? It's freezing" she said as she wrapped rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms. "Maybe you could..warm me up a bit" she said seductively as she pressed her body against his. Just as he was about to push her away he saw someone storm out of the bar. When he took a closer look he saw it was Kim, with car keys in her hand. He could tell she had been drinking a lot because it took her a few times to actually get the key in the lock.

"She can't be that stupid" he said as he shoved Sable aside.


	10. Chapter 10

Kim stumbled across the parking lot when she finally made it to Candy's car. It took her a few times to get the key to work and when she finally got the door open a huge hand slammed it shut again.

"What the hell?" she stammered, slightly confused. She turned around to see who it was and narrowed her eyes when she met Mark's glare.

"What do you think you're doing?" He said sternly, staring her in the eyes.

"What do you care?" she said as she tried opening the door again. His hand was still firmly placed on it so she couldn't even get it to budge. "Move." she said in an equally stern voice. He rolled his eyes and gave a motion with his free hand.

"Give me the keys." she looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"No." Now it was his turn to look at her like she had lost her mind.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. No. Now move out of the way!" she tried pushing him but he didn't move much.

"You've had way to much to drink, girl." he said a bit agitated she was arguing with him.

"Who are you to say when I've had too much to drink? I'll be the judge of that, now leave me the hell alone!"

"Why in the hell are you getting angry with me! I'm trying to stop you from doing something stupid! You know you've been drinking too much to drive, now give me the keys and call a fucking cab." he tried grabbing for the keys again but she dodged him. She felt like she was about to cry again and didn't know why.

"If you care so fucking much why didn't you just send Paul out here to stop me!" she yelled.

"Paul? What in the hell are you talking about, woman!"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" she looked around then to see that their arguing had drawn a crowd. "You know what," she said in a quieter tone. "You want the keys so bad? Take them." she threw the keys at him as they bounced off his chest. "I'll walk."

**** The drama is just getting started, lol. Hope everyone is enjoying it so far. I've got some ideas for the next few chapters so stay with me!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry it took me so long to upload more! Things have been hectic lately but I think I'm finally back on track. I'll try and upload more every week so I can finally complete the story. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review. =) Please continue to tell me what you think.**

Kim woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. She groaned as she sat up on the couch. "What the hell am I doing on the couch?" she asked herself. Then she laughed when she saw Harley spread across her bed. As she got up..slowly..she tried thinking back to last night but couldn't seem to remember anything. She thought maybe she had tried to drive home, but that didn't sound like something she would do. She shrugged it off. At least she hadn't ended up in bed with some loser again. That thought caused her to laugh, just as Candice and Megan walked in.

"Whacha laughin' about?" Megan asked with her hands full of shopping bags.

"Nothing.." Kim said with a hint of laughter in her voice. "Where have you two been?"

"Well it is almost 3 in the afternoon, we couldn't just wait around here all day until you got up." Candice started "so Megan and I went out shopping."

"YOU went shopping with Megan? Wow, I never thought his moment would happen." Kim stated sarcastically.

"Oh shut up" Candy said with a laugh, "I was bored and there was nothing else to do." She got serious for a moment and sat beside Kim. "So, anyway..how you doin?" Kim looked at her friend with confusion.

"Fine...why?"

"We thought you'd be totally devastated after what happened last night." Megan blurted out, then covered her mouth when Candice shot her an evil glare. Kim was really confused now.

"Happened lat night? What happened last night that would devastate me?"

"You mean you really don't remember?" Candice asked.

"Apparently not..so would someone like to fill me in please?"

"Well you and Mark kinda had a screaming match in the parking lot last night..right before you left."

"What?" she was shocked. Why had she been in a confrontation with Mark. And why hadn't she remembered it.

"Yeah. I think you um..tried to drive yourself home last night. He was standing outside and saw you and tried to stop you I guess. When he tried to take the keys you kinda flipped and that's when you both started screaming at each other." Kim just sat there for a moment before running her hands through her hair.

"I honestly don't remember any of that. I must of been really out of it last night." she let out a loud sigh. "That's all I need. Things seriously can't get any worse"

"Well," Candice began "that's not entirely true." Kim looked up at her with furrowed brows. "Everyone kinda saw what happened."

"What do you mean everyone saw what happened!"

"Well when you two were screaming at each other everyone in the bar went outside to see what was going on." Kim slumped back into the couch.

"Great" she mumbled.

"Oh common, so you got drunk and screamed at your ex in front of a crowd of people you'll see almost everyday for the next few days, so what?" Kim looked over at Megan.

"You really suck at helping people Meg." Megan just gave a small smile and shrugged. "I better get ready, tonight's the show and its almost four already." Kim got up off the couch, winced alittle because of her head, and walked into the bathroom. When she emerged she seemed to be in better spirits. "Ready?" she asked.

"What got into you?" Candice asked as she smiled at her friend. She was glad to see Kim wasn't so gloomy anymore.

"I was thinking. Why should I care what some people at a bar think, who were probably just as drunk as I was. Everyone does stupid shit when they're plastered." Both friends smiled and followed Kim out of the door. They arrived at the arena a few minutes later and met Shane and Vince in Vince's office.

"I'm so glad you decided to join us tonight" Vince said hugging his niece.

"Me too, Uncle" Kim said hugging him back as hard as she could. "So what's on the schedule for tonight?"

"Well I've got a TLC match lined up along with a hardcore match and lingerie match." Kim scrunched her nose at that. She had always hated the lingerie matches. Vince ignored this and continued. "And that's not even the main event. Tonight for the main match I've got Mark going against The Rock in a first blood match. I personally think I've outdone myself tonight." He said as he comically poked his chest out and held his head up high. This made Kim laugh as she tried not to show how the mention of Mark's name affected her. It still amazed her how just hearing that name made her heart jump. Plus she felt horrible for yelling at him last night. All he was doing was trying to stop her from doing something stupid. Shane snapped her out of her thoughts when he spoke.

"Well I'm going to take care of a few things really quick. Kim, I'll catch up with you sometime after the show."

"Okay," she said with a smile. "I'll see you later." As soon as he left Vince started talking again about upcoming storylines and started to show the girls the layout of the arena.

"You can watch the matches on any monitors outside here or the one in my office. The cafeteria is over there," He said as he pointed to a huge area across from where they were standing, "and you'll find numerous vending machines throughout the arena. Bathrooms are over there" he pointed again" and there are more on the other side of the building."

"I think we've got it uncle" Kim said with a laugh. "I've been with the company before remember? I think I can find my way around an arena." Vince just smiled at his niece.

"Very well." He went over and kissed her cheeks. "If you need ANYTHING, I'll be in my office, okay?"

"Okay" Kim said. She couldn't help but smile at him. He was always so protective.

"You girls have a good time" He said to the group with a smile. "I'll see you later."

"Bye!" they all said at once.

"So where to?" Candice asked.

"Well I want to scope out some hot guys so I vote we do that!" Megan said in her chipper voice.

"How bout we grab something to eat first" Kim said as she rolled her eyes. "Then maybe the scoping thing." They all laughed and headed toward the cafeteria. When they were done eating they decided to watch what was left of tonight's show on the monitor in Vince's office. Kim stepped into the room first, followed by Candice and then Megan. She turned on the monitor seeing her uncle wasn't in the room at present, and threw herself on the large leather sofa in the middle of the room.

"I know you don't think you're hogging the entire couch.." Candice said with her hands on her hips and a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. Kim just smiled and stretched out even further, reaching her arms up and placing her hands behind her head.

"Ow Ow! Okay, I'm moving! Sheesh." Candice had plopped herself on top of Kim's stomach in retaliation and once she got her breath back Kim shoved her off and sat up. She threw a pillow at her friends face and sat back in the couch, ready to actually watch the show they had come in there to see. They had caught the last bit of the match-up between Edge and Ken Shamrock. Edge ended up gaining the victory after giving Shamrock a viscous spear from the turnbuckle. As the Ref was raising his hand in victory The Undertaker's music suddenly echoed throughout the arena. "Of course" Kim said flatly as she got up from the couch and went into the bathroom. She didn't need to think about him right now. Candice just let out a long breath as she got up as well and went to make a small pot of coffee. Megan was glued to the screen, however, and didn't move an inch. She watched as 'Taker walked menacingly to the ring clad in a long black velvet robe with the hood covering most of his face, and none other than Paul Bearer glued to his side. Following him were the rest of his ministry. The Undertaker entered the ring and stood directly in the center. As the lights returned to normal he removed the hood that covered his face and took the microphone Paul had waiting for him.

"Vince McMahon.." he growled dangerously into the microphone, " You've crossed me for the last time..and now you must pay." His face remained stern as he spoke but the same could not be said for his counterparts. A sick smile spread on the faces of each member of his ministry, knowing what their master was going to say. Before 'Taker could utter another word Mick Foley's music went off and the crowd roared with excitement.

"That's odd," Megan said looking at the screen with furrowed brows.

"Whats that?" Candice said as she walked back in the room sipping her coffee. She sat on the couch next to Megan and watched what was going on on the monitor.

"Well remember when Kim's uncle was talking to us earlier?"

"Mhm"

"He said something about the storyline that was supposed to happen..something about Mark and his ministry kidnapping Steph and preforming this unholy wedding thing."

"Yeah, so?" Candice asked.

"Well he said all that was supposed to happen tonight. But..now this guy is coming out and it's not going like he said it was. That isn't even Marks opponent for tonight." Megan was still looking at the screen intently, watching Mark and the other man exchange heated words.

"Vince probably just tweaked the story..I wouldn't worry about it." Candy countered with a wave of her hand. With that she got up again to add more sugar to her coffee. "You know, you're really getting into this whole wrestling thing." She called from the counter on the other side of the room. Megan just waved her off. Mick had said something she didn't quite catch and then a video started up on the Titantron just as Candice walked back into the room.

"What the.." Candice started before she let out a loud gasp and dropped her coffee on the floor. The sound of the mug connecting with the hard wooden floor was enough to make Kim run out of the bathroom to see what happened. When she entered the main room her face went from one of concern to confusion. Candice was standing wide-eyed by the couch with her hands over her mouth and spilled coffee around her feet. Megan looked much the same except she was sitting down with her mouth agape.

"Hello?" Kim all but yelled over to them. "What the hell is the matter with.." she was cut off when she saw what was playing on the small monitor in the room. "Oh..my..god" She said, barley above a whisper, and slowly sat down on the couch for fear her legs might give out.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you sure Vince knows about this?" Mick asked the man standing in front of him, looking down at the tape in his hands.

"Of course he knows. Who do you think sent me?"

"And Mark..he's okay with it?" The man pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache starting to develop.

"Yes Mick. Vince is okay with it..Mark is okay with it. We're all okay with it. Now will you go and give the damned tape to the tech guys. Unless you want me to tell Vince you refused to do what he asked."

"No No! I'm goin..just makin sure." Mick looked at the man and then nervously down at the tape again. He let out a sigh and walked toward the tech guys while running a hand through his hair.

Mark was in his locker room shadow boxing when a knock came at the door. "Yeah" he quickly replied, not breaking rhythm.

"Hey man, what you up to?" Glen asked as he walked over to his friend.

"Whats it look like." he said without making eye contact. Glen threw up his hands in defense.

"Just making conversation" He said with a chuckle. He thought he had an idea why Mark was in such a bad mood. In fact he knew damn well why Mark was in such a bad mood. Vince's niece had gone off on him last night at the bar, and no one ever talked to Mark like that. Either they respected him too much or they feared him too much. Glen thought it was more of the latter but kept his mouth shut about the subject. "So.." he began trying to change the subject..or at least get rid of some of the tension in the air, "I heard Vince changed your match tonight. Who are you supposed to fight now? The Rock or something?"

"In a First Blood" he replied tightly.

"Ah." Glen returned, not knowing where else to go with the subject.

"Look, Glen." Mark said turning toward his closest friend. "I have to get ready for tonight so I'll meet up with you after the show or somethin' alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Good luck tonight." with that Glen exited the room and Mark let out a big breath of air. He knew Glen was just trying to ease his mind but he just wasn't in the mood for conversation right now. He had other things on his mind. A few minutes later Mark was waiting at the curtain for his music to signal his entrance. As soon as it hit he got right into his Undertaker mode. He walked to the ring as the crowd rang out mixed reactions. It was funny, he thought. Vince had chosen this character because he wanted The Undertaker to turn heel, but because he was in the business for so long and gained a lot of respect many fans still cheered for him. As he entered the ring the lights came back on and he took the microphone Paul had handed him. With Paul at his side and his Ministry behind him, he proceeded to call out McMahon, going through what they had rehearsed in the back. Just as he was about reveal the kidnapping of Vince's lovely daughter, Mick Foley's music hit and the crowd went ballistic. '_What the hell is he doing?' _Mark thought as he looked up the ramp in confusion. This is not what they had rehearsed.

"Undertaker.." Mick spoke in his high pitched voice. "You think your so tough up there playing your little mind games on people..well, I think it's time someone played mind games on you!" Mark looked at Mick in confusion and anger. "I've got something here that shows the Deadman isn't so dead after all!" He was really starting to get pissed off. He wasn't in a great mood to start out with and now this shit. How dare Vince change the storyline without telling him. He was torn from his thoughts when a video started to play on the jumbo screen.

It was Kim, standing outside in the snow. She was wearing a thin coat and had her arms wrapped around herself, looking around like she was expecting someone. Suddenly someone wrapped their arms around her and spun her around. Mark's eyes grew wide as he spun his head to wear Mick was standing on the ramp. It was from the night he had given her that necklace...the night he had told her he loved her. Someone had taped them. When Mick saw the look on Mark's face the smile he had on his own quickly disappeared. From the look on his face Mick could tell Mark didn't know about the video. He dropped the mic and stumbled as fast as he could backstage. Mark threw the mic down as the video came to an end. The crowed was silent, no one made a sound. He ran a hand down his beard just as Paul lightly grabbed his arm. He snatched away and stormed out of the ring, leaving a stunned audience and ministry behind.


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm sooo sorry for not updating in a while. This chapter has gotten me back in the groove of things so I'll be updating more frequently, promise Anyway, let me know what you think of the new addition, whether it was good or lacking or whatever. I love reviews, they keep me going. I'm open for praise and criticism so don't be afraid to leave me something. **

**Disclaimer: As always I do not own the WWE, WWF, or any of the superstars. I do, however, own Kim, Candice, Megan, and Harley =) **

"Do you mind telling me what the hell that was about!" Vince had stormed in his office where the girls were watching the show completely irate at what he just saw play out on the monitor. "There I was talking to some of the board members about next week's show when what do I see on the monitor? My own niece playing tonsil hockey with one of my top superstars! When did this happen! How did…" He was stopped short when Shane busted in.

"What's going on?" he asked dumbfounded and out of breath.

"I'll tell you what's going on!" Vince yelled angrily. "Your cousin here thinks it's all well and good to sleep with anyone she damn well pleases!" That was it. She took enough of it from her mother and she didn't need it from him; so she did what any person in her situation would do. She snapped.

"Enough!" She yelled as she jumped up from the couch and looked pointedly at her uncle. "I'm not going to sit here while you basically call me a whore! I kissed him...YEARS ago! I met him while I was staying with you. I didn't want to fall for him, but you can't just pick and choose who you fall for uncle. And who in the hell said I slept with him?" she was in his face now; not caring in the least she was being disrespectful to the man. At that moment Shane tried to get a word in, probably to calm things down, but Kim would have none of that. "Shut up, Shane." She said without taking her eyes off her uncle. "And you know, we would have told you about us if you weren't so psychotic with your rules!"

"And what in the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked in an equally high tone. Meanwhile Candice and Megan had snuck over to where Shane was standing and all three watched, flabbergasted, as the scene unfolded before them.

"What's that supposed to _mean_?" She asked mockingly. "We both knew that there was no way we could tell you because you already made it clear to the entire locker room that no one could even look at me without repercussions, let alone date me. We knew you would fire him if you found out we were interested in each other!" Vince snorted at this and shook his head.

"Interested in each other? Let me tell you something little girl. That man was only interested in one thing. And I think you and I both know what that was" Kim's eyes widened and she looked at him in shock.

"It wasn't like that." She said in a hushed tone as she lowered her head.

"Wasn't like that huh? Then why did you walk away from this… from us? You fell for some guy, gave him what he wanted, and he called it quits. Your poor heart was broken and you ran the hell away. You don't think I know how these things work? Why the hell did you think I wanted to keep you away from all those damn men! But you couldn't keep your legs closed and look where we are!" A gasp could be heard from the three onlookers, and then Shane spoke up.

"Dad..." He was cut short, however, by Kim's hand.

"Let him finish" was all she said in a barely audible tone.

"Now I have to find a way to work around that damn video. I can't just let it go! The whole damn world saw your little fling and what am I supposed to do? Create a storyline about it? A damn storyline about my niece and The Undertaker." Vince shook his head, brainstorming on possible solutions to this little dilemma, completely oblivious to the tears in his niece's eyes. "Speaking of which, does anyone know how the hell Mick got that video in the first place?" he looked over at his son, who only shook his head.

"I, uh..." Shane began, still somewhat shocked at the scene that went on beforehand, "I'll go look for him. He should still be in the arena. Unless…" before he could finish there was a loud crash in the hallway followed by screaming. Everyone rushed outside to see what was going on, everyone except for Kim and Candice. Kim hadn't moved from the spot she was in as she continued to stare at the floor. Candice quietly made her way over to her friend, worry etched in her features.

"Hey…don't let what he said bother you, yeah? He was just angry and confused at the whole thing. You of all people should know how he gets." She tried to smile at her but it had no effect. She sighed and grabbed Kim's shoulders. "You're not a whore Kim. You were in love with him, and as far as I'm concerned that doesn't make you a slut." Kim finally looked up at Candice and threw her arms around her neck. Candice wrapped her arms around her and smiled. "Besides," she said as she pulled Kim to where she could see her face, "You know that later, after he realizes what he said, he's going to feel like a total ass." Both girls laughed and Kim wiped her eyes.

"Thank yo…" before she could finish a loud bang was heard in the hallway followed by another scream. Both girls looked at each other before looking toward the door. "Come on." Kim said as she grabbed ahold of Candice's arm and pulled her out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**Told you I'd update fast ;p. Pleasee review. Let me know how I'm doing etc. I would also like to thank all of my reviewers who have stuck with the story so far, your time and patience mean the world to me. Special thanks to tanya2byour21, and my anonymous reviewers Ashley and Tawny. As you can tell I'm trying to make up for my absence by getting some chapters out there quickly =) **

"Either you tell me where the son of a bitch is or I'll rip your goddamn head off."

"Mark!" The young man Mark was holding in the air by the throat turned his head as much as he could in the direction the voice had come. A wave of relief washed over him as he saw the chairman rushing toward them. That feeling soon disappeared as he felt The Phenom's large hand tighten even more around his throat, cutting off his air supply. He let out a raspy gasping sound as he tried to pry the larger man's hand from his neck, with no avail.

"Really…" he gasped out, "I don't…know where he is. Please…" he tried to plea with the man in front of him but all he got in response was a tighter hold on his throat. When Vince finally reached the two he seized Mark by the arm and attempted to tear his hand away from the other man's throat. He ultimately succeeded and the young man landed on the ground with a loud thud. Mark tried to go after him again but Vince stood in his way. At this time Candice and Kim had run out of Vince's office and into the huge crowd that surrounded what was soon to be a murder scene.

"What's going on?" Kim asked the nearest person she could grab, who turned out to be one of the stage hands.

"'Takers gone nuts and just choked the shit out of one of the tech guys. I think he's looking for Foley because of that video they showed."

"Who?" Kim asked, completely dumbfounded. Who the hell was 'Taker and Foley? The stage hand hadn't looked at the woman who grabbed him until now. It took him a few seconds to realize who it was but when he did, his eyes got wide and a small smirk played at his lips.

"Hey! Aren't you the girl in that video with 'Taker!" he proclaimed loudly. Everyone suddenly turned and stared at the two, even Vince and Mark stopped arguing and turned toward them. Kim's face grew a crimson red as she looked around at her spectators .She had an idea of who 'Taker and Foley were now, thanks to Dr. Loudmouth. She was about to defend herself when she felt her arm being grabbed harshly and pulled the other way. Unfortunately her arm was still sore from the asshole at the gas station and whoever had her at the moment was doing some serious damage to it. She turned to look at who had the nerve to grab her like that and saw that it was her uncle. She rolled her eyes and yanked her arm harshly out of his grasp.

"I can walk on my own, thanks." As soon as he was about to retaliate Mark's booming voice interrupted them.

"Vince!" Vince let out a sigh and looked up to see Mark shoving people harshly out of the way to get to the chairman. Kim was behind Vince as he approached and couldn't remember Mark ever being this…intimidating. Sure he was always a big guy and usually scared the shit out of anyone who was dumb enough to mess with him, but it was never anything like this. He was intense and dominating and sexy and…wait. Did she just say sexy? Where the hell did that come from? She groaned out loud which earned her a look from Candice who had made her way over to Kim's side. She raised an eyebrow at her friend and Kim just shook her head, her face already a bit flushed from embarrassment. "Let me make this clear to you" Mark began when he got close to Vince. He lowered his head so he was face to face with the chairman and started in a deep baritone that would scare the living hell out of anyone. "If you don't find Foley, I will. And if I find him…You're going to have to call a real undertaker because his ass is mine. And don't think I won't take down _anyone_ that gets in my way." He said the last in a low tone, pointedly at Vince. The chairman swallowed hard, trying to find his voice.

"L-look Mark, S-Shane just went to look for him. As soon as he finds him we'll all get our answers." Mark straightened up again and looked down at Vince.

"You better hope so, McMahon." He said in a threatening tone. _'God he can be so intimidating. I've never seen Vince this…frightened before.'_ Kim thought as she looked at her uncle. When she looked back at Mark she saw he was turning to leave, but before he did their eyes met. Kim's breath caught in her throat but she couldn't look away. What felt like hours turned out to be only a few seconds as he broke eye contact and strode down the hall, not without glaring at the young man he just about choked to death, making him jump nearly a foot out of pure fright. Within a few moments he was out of sight, and Kim let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. When her senses came back she looked to her right only to find her uncle staring at her with what looked like…regret? Yes, it was regret she saw swimming in his eyes. She gave a weak smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She couldn't stay mad at him, even if she tried. He had done so much for her over the past few years and she owed him so much for that. His eyes lit up a bit and he smiled at her.

"Come on," he said while he put an arm around his niece's shoulders, "Let's wait in my office for Shane to come back. Hopefully we'll figure this all out soon." While they walked she put her arm around his waist and squeezed slightly. It was her way of apologizing for earlier; she realized she was out of line but so was he. He must've understood because as they neared his office he placed a kiss on the top of her head. They stopped in front of the door and she turned to face her uncle. Before he could say anything she threw her arms around him. He gave a small smile and wrapped his arms around her in return, and they stayed like that for a few moments. "Come on" he said in an emotional voice before placing another kiss atop her head. As they entered his office with Candice in tow Vince went over to his desk to place a few calls while Kim sat by Candy on the couch.

"So, everything okay?" she asked. Kim looked over at her friend and smiled.

"I think so," she said. "He didn't mean everything he said, I know that now." Silence followed, occasionally being interrupted by the rough rasping sound of pen on paper or the quiet rustling of the paperwork on Vince's desk as he worked. Suddenly a look of confusion overtook Candice's features as she looked over at Kim.

"Kim?" she asked with furrowed brows.

"Hmm?"

"Where the hell did Megan go?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Didn't you see her outside?" Kim asked. She couldn't even remember seeing Megan, but then again she was a bit preoccupied with being publicly humiliated and dragged through the halls.

"No...she ran out before us and I lost her in the crowd." She said with annoyance dripping from her voice. Kim couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"Oh stop, you know you're worried about her." She said as she nudged Candice in the side.

"Oh please. She probably just found some cute guy she could stalk." They both started laughing just as the office door flew open.

"Shane?" they both said in unison as the younger McMahon came storming in the room.

"Dad...Foley" he panted, trying to catch his breath. He leaned against the wall for support as his father jumped out of his chair and ran over to his son.

"What? What about Foley! Shane what's wrong!" he asked as he grabbed the boy by the shoulders.

"I-I went to go find him and...and..." he took a deep breath as everyone in the room gathered around to hear what he had to say.

"Shane? What happened?" Kim asked as she rested a hand on her cousin's shoulder, trying to provide him comfort. He took her hand in his own and looked in her eyes.

"I went to go find Foley so I thought I'd go look in his locker room first." He then looked toward his father. "When I got there, Mick wasn't there. Then security came running up to me and told me someone found him lying unconscious in the boiler room. I ran down there as quickly as I could but they were already loading him into an ambulance." He looked down in shame. "I'm sorry, dad."

"This is not your fault son." Vince said in a reassuring voice." We'll just have to wait until he's healed from whatever happened down there. Meanwhile, why don't you go down to security and see if they have any footage from the boiler room that could help us figure out what happened." Shane's eyes got wide but Vince didn't seem to notice. Kim did, however, and looked at her cousin in confusion.

"Alright, I'll go see." He left abruptly and Kim looked after him, confusion still etched in her features. _'He sure left in a hurry'_ she thought. _' he looked almost...frightened_' She was brought out of her thoughts by Candice's voice.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah" she looked after Shane one last time then turned to her best friend. "Megan's been gone for a while, what do you say we start looking for her?" Candice gave an overly dramatic sigh and started towards the door.

"Alright, but if we find her drooling over some guy I'm not gonna say I told you so." Kim laughed at her as she assured her uncle they would be back shortly and followed..

"Oh shush you will so" she said as she laughed. Candice chuckled and shook her head.

"Yeah you're probably right." Her face suddenly took on a more serious tone as she looked over to Kim. "Kim..." Kim looked over to Candice and arched an eyebrow.

"Yes?" there was a slight pause before Candice spoke again. 

"Who do you think took that video?" Kim held her gaze with Candice for a moment longer then looked away. She had been wondering just that since she saw the damn thing.

"I don't know, Candy." she said through a sigh. "But I have a feeling that's not the only one." This made Candice stop in her tracks and stare at her friend. Kim turned around to face her.

"You don't think..."

"I...don't know what I think." She said as she ran a hand through her hair. "But think about it. Whoever shot that planned on showing it. So why would they stop at just one? Whoever it was either had something against me or...Mark." _'It still amazes me how just saying his name affects me' _

"So you don't think it was Mick?" Candice asked as she sat down on a nearby table. Kim leaned against the wall and gave a light chuckle.

"Did you see the look on his face after that video aired? Something tells me he thought that video was just a part of the show. That was until he saw the look on Mark's face." She couldn't help but laugh despite the circumstance . Mick looked like he could have shit himself when he saw the look on Mark's face. "I think it was pretty clear from that point that Mark knew nothing about it."

"You should tell him." Candice said looking over to her.

"What?"

"You should tell him. Mark I mean." she clarified with a shake of her head. She jumped off the table and walked closer to her. "Did you see Mark today in the hallway? If it wasn't clear he wanted to kill Mick I don't know how else to clarify. Kim, what if he was the one who attacked Mick in the boiler room?" Kim actually didn't think of that. She looked at Candice with reluctance and pushed herself off the wall.

"I-I don't know" she said a bit hesitantly.

"Kim, even if he didn't attack Mick today you know as soon as he sees him he's going to. You need to go talk to him." She paused and waited for her friend to answer. "Look, I'll go search for the sex fiend and you go find Mark and talk to him." she turned and left Kim standing in the hall before she could utter a disagreement. _'Damn it'_ she thought. She looked down the hall after Candice, then turned and looked the other way.

"How in the hell am I supposed to find him anyway?" she asked herself out loud.

"Find who?" came a deep voice behind her. She jumped and whirled around to come face to face with what looked to be someone's chest.

"Umm..." she said as she let her eyes travel upwards. When she finally reached the man's face recognition dawned on her own. It was Paul Wight. She remembered him from one of her trips to visit her uncle. He wrestled under the name Big Show, and she wondered if he still did. "You're... Big Show, right?" she asked looking up at him. The big man looked down at the small woman in front of him, slightly surprised that he didn't scare or intimidate her like he seemed to do with most women. He smiled down at her and extended his hand. She surprised him yet again by taking it without hesitation.

"Most people call me Paul." he said with a wide smile as he let go of her hand. "So did I hear you were looking for someone?" She gave a nervous laugh as she ran a hand through her hair and looked toward the ground. _'Looks like there's no getting out of this one.'_

"Yeah, actually I was." she said as she looked back up at the giant.

"Well, maybe I can help find the lucky guy" he said as he gave her a smile and a wink.

"Well..." She paused, not sure if she wanted to tell him she was looking for Mark. She really didn't want to stir any rumors, especially after everyone saw that video. People were probably already talking. _' that's all I need, to add more fuel to the fire.' _Just when she was about to tell him she could find who she was looking for on her own, she heard laughter coming toward them.

"Well look who it is..." she turned toward the voice and almost immediately wished she hadn't. Walking toward them in something that wouldn't even be deemed appropriate for a strip club came Sable. Kim groaned inwardly. Oh how she hated this woman. "What? Back to top your old record?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If she didn't calm herself down she was more than likely going to choke Sable out with her own hair extensions.

"What are you talking about, Sable?" she asked through a sigh. She didn't need this shit right now.

"Oh don't act all innocent with me, honey. Everyone saw that video, and _everyone_ knows he wasn't the only one you were fucking." Paul just watched the exchange in confusion. Apparently he had no idea what was going on. "But let me make one thing clear..." she said as she got close to Kim's face. "Your old 'flame' is off limits. He's mine now. Apparently his taste in...woman..." she said this last part with a disgusted glare toward Kim, "Got better over the years." Kim stayed silent for a moment, trying to get her temper in check before she spoke. When she did speak, in was in an eerily calm tone.

"You know, Sable, you walk your ass over here to insult and degrade me, to make me feel less enticing and superior than you..." Sable gave a smug smile as Kim continued. "But what I don't understand is if I'm supposed to be so..beneath you...why you feel the need to come all the way over here to tell me he's off limits." Sable looked at her with wide eyes and tried to retaliate but Kim cut her off with that same calm tone. "You better be careful, _honey,_ some people may think you were threatened." she turned to Paul before Sable could say another word. "Now if you'll excuse us, I have business to take care of." Kim walked away with Paul right on her heels, leaving a stunned and pissed off Sable frozen in the middle of the hallway.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks to all my reviewers once again! Hearing your reviews seriously keep me going so please continue to tell me what you think. I'm uploading chapters as quickly as I can so I hope It's quick enough, lol. **

****As usual I don't own the WWE, the WWF or any of the superstars. I do own Kim, Candice, Megan and Harley =)**

"Whoa! Wait up there!" Paul was calling after Kim as she made her way down the hallway. Thinking he was going to comment on the video or Mark or anything related to the two she whirled around and glared at him. Sable had always managed to get under her skin and this time was no exception. Her green eyes were ablaze with anger as she continued to stare up at him.

"What!" Paul held his hands up in defense and backed up a few steps.

"Hey, I was just going to compliment you on back there." he said, his hands still in the air. Some of the anger in her eyes diminished a bit and was replaced with confusion.

"What?" she asked as she shook her head. She sure as hell wasn't expecting a compliment after that little encounter.

"What you did back there, "he said as he smiled at her, "not too many people talk to her like that." she chuckled as she turned around and continued walking.

"Well they should start..." they continued walking a few more steps before Kim realized something. "Hey Paul...I was talking with Shane earlier and I could have sworn he said you were one of the guys that couldn't make it tonight because of the storm. How did you get here?" Paul smiled down at her and poked his chest out as he talked.

"Well, I don't think I could have lived with myself if I didn't show up tonight." he peeked down at her to see a confused look come over her face, which made him smirk. "You are looking at the top superstar here on Raw. People look up to me, you know?" He smiled down at her to show he was joking and she laughed.

"Well I certainly do. Literally." she said through her laughter, causing him to laugh as well.

"Nah, I called Vince to let him know I wasn't going to make it when they canceled my flight. A few minutes later I noticed a flight was open for Pennsylvania. So I took that one, rented a car once I was down there and drove here." he shrugged, apparently thinking it was no big deal, like he'd done it a thousand times. Something that Kim thought was very possible. They walked in silence for a few more minutes when Paul started to chuckle. She thought nothing of it at first. _'Probably just thought of something that happened before. I do it all the time' _ she kept telling herself this until his chuckles turned into laughter and she had to turn to him to see what was so damn funny.

"What?" she asked as he continued to laugh lightly. "Why are you laughing?" She had a hand on her hip as she stared up at him.

"I was just wondering...are you going to tell me who you're looking for so I can help or do you plan on walking in circles all night?" she looked around her then, and realized they had passed this particular area a couple of times. She laughed at herself as she turned a bright shade of red.

"I guess that would help a bit" she said as her face grew hotter.

"Well?" Paul asked as his laughter died down. "Who is it we're looking for?" Kim bit her bottom lip and looked up at Paul. _'Should I tell him? What if he thinks...or tells Vince and he thinks...But he didn't say anything about my confrontation with Sable so maybe he doesn't know...Ugh! Just tell him Kim. You just need to talk to the guy.' _"Helllooo?" Paul asked as he waved a hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." she said as she took a deep breath. "I'm looking for Mark" When she saw it hadn't dawned on Paul who she was talking about she decided to try his ring name. "T-The Undertaker?" Paul's eyes got wide as he stared down at her in confusion.

"You're looking for 'Taker? You ...want to talk with The Undertaker." he said, still not believing she said this. She gave a nervous laugh and looked up at him.

"Yeah. He's, an old friend. I, uh, just want to talk to him." Paul ran a hand through his hair as he let out a breath of air.

"Well, okay. His locker room is right over here." His brows remained drawn together as he led the way to Mark's dressing room. Kim's breath quickened and her heart skipped a beat the closer they got to his door. When nothing was separating her from the talk she was about to have with Mark but his door, she began to have second thoughts. Just when she was about to give up and turn around Paul spoke up.

"Listen, I heard from a few people that 'Taker isn't in that great of a mood. Just...be careful okay?" Before she could stop him Paul had knocked loudly on the door, causing her heart to do cartwheels in her chest. There was silence at first, and just when Paul was about to knock again a loud voice came bellowing through the wood.

"What!" Paul let out a deep sigh and looked down at Kim with worry evident in his eyes.

"'Taker? It's Show...look there's someone here that wants to talk to you." Silence again. Just when they thought he either didn't hear Paul or chose to ignore him his voice rose through the door again.

"Come in."

"You want me to come in with you?" he whispered with that same look on his face. She couldn't help but smile at him. He was worried about her.

"No, I think I can handle it. Thanks." he gave a small, almost sad smile as he laid a hand on her shoulder and proceeded to walk away. She took a deep breath and looked down at herself. She hadn't given that much thought in what she was wearing until now, and by this time she was feeling _pretty_ self conscious. She had on a pair of her old blue jeans that were ripped to the point you could see most of her legs with her black DC shoes. She also wore a tight, short sleeved black shirt that showed off her mid-drift with the words 'Harley Davidson' printed on the front in silver lettering. She left her hair down that morning because she didn't feel like doing anything special to it. Just brushed and straightened it a bit. Her hair was naturally straight so that was an easy task. _'Okay, enough stalling.'_ she thought to herself as she took a deep breath and turned the handle on the door. If only she would have known what awaited her inside. If she did, she would have gladly accepted Paul's offer on coming in with her.

As she pushed open the door and peered inside there was two things she noticed. First, the room was full of men she had never seen before. And second, Mark was no where in sight. _'Great. I wasn't nervous enough when I thought it would just be Mark in here. Who the hell are these guys?' _As she entered the room the men all stopped talking and looked at the woman that just entered The Undertaker's locker room. No, looked wasn't the right word. They _leered_ at her as she stepped further in the room. On the far right, nearest her, was one of the men she actually thought she recognized. _'Viscera' _she thought as she looked toward him. His appearance changed a lot from the last time she saw him, though. His hair was dyed a lighter color and he wore contacts that made his eyes look...creepy. Next to him was a blonde man with an old style white shirt that had what looked to be droplets of blood on it. When she looked closer she noticed something. _'Please don't tell me those are vampire teeth.' _she sighed inwardly, and continued to take in her surroundings. On the far side of the room sat a man with long blonde hair and sunglasses resting over his eyes. He sat in a metal folding chair with his arms resting on his knees, seeming to lean in towards her. Next to him was a smaller blonde that looked oddly similar to the other. To her left sat two men with strange symbols painted on their chests. They sat at a table and was playing what looked to be a game of poker. One was dark skinned and seemed to be a bit shorter than the other. The other man at the table looked a bit taller, with long black hair tied back from his face. He turned out to be the one that broke the awkward silence that ensued as soon as she walked into the room a few moments ago.

"Hey 'Taker! You've got yourself a little visitor..." he said the last part as he looked her up and down. A gesture she didn't particularly care for. In fact it kind of pissed her off, and of course her mouth started in before her mind could catch up.

"Last time I checked I wasn't a piece of meat so you can take that stare somewhere else."

"Excuse me?" The man said with raised brows as he slowly stood up from his seat. _'Great. Perfect. I managed to piss of a very large guy...in a room full of very large guys...in a matter of seconds. Personal record.' _She backed up a bit before the wall stopped her progress. Then, in dismay, she noticed that a few of the other guys had gotten up and was staring at her with hard eyes. Before she could say anything in her defense a familiar voice rang through the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Everyone turned around to see Mark walk into the room. To her relief the man that she confronted, along with everyone else, seated themselves. "Who the hell is..." he stopped short when he spotted her, standing on the far side of the room with her back pressed against the wall. With his brows drawn together he continued to stare at her in confusion, then suddenly, he spoke. "Can I help you?" it wasn't a particularly pleasant comment. His tone was hard and monotone, making her heart do that funny, cartwheel thing again. That wasn't the only reason her heart felt like it was currently in her throat. As soon as he walked into the room Kim had noticed one thing. He wasn't wearing anything from the waste up. She inhaled sharply and looked up at him. _'God, why couldn't he have just put on a shirt or something.'_ She didn't mean to stare, but it was hard not to. His long, black hair was left down as it hung loosely over his shoulders. Water droplets were slowly making their way down his chest from the recent shower he had and she couldn't help but let her eyes drift to his heavily tattooed arms. _'He's gotten a lot more from when I was here last.' _she thought as she looked up to his face once more. As her eyes met his she realized he was staring at her. In fact everyone in the room was staring at her, waiting for her response. She felt her face grow hot as she ran a nervous hand through her hair.

"I-uh...just wanted to..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, needing to focus on what to say rather than the man standing across from her. _'I'm going to kill Candice for making me do this' _She let out a sigh and was about to finally come out with what she came here to say when none other than Paul Bearer walked in the room with a stack of papers in his hand.

"Mark, there's a few more things we need to go over and..." he stopped short when he saw everyone looking toward the door to the dressing room. When he looked to the door to see what held everyone's interest so firmly he gasped slightly and dropped the entire stack of paperwork onto the floor below. "K-Kimberly." he stated, sounding as if he were in shock. "W-What brings you here?" She looked at him in confusion at first, wondering why in the hell he seemed so nervous.

"I just came to," she began as she extended her hand toward Mark.

"Oh my, look what I've done" he interrupted as he looked down at the pile of papers that had scattered on the hard floor. He bent down to pick them up and as he stood he began to talk to Mark again in a hurried voice. "As I was saying, Mark, there's just a few things we need to go over so if you'll just come with me..." he touched Mark on the back of his arm, trying to lead him away. Kim held a look of bewilderment on her face as she watched Paul completely ignore her and attempt to lead Mark into the next room . _'What the hell...' _she thought as she stepped forward.

"Mark! I need to talk to you!" It came out louder than she intended but she panicked. This was her only chance to talk to him because there was no way in _hell_ she was coming back here. It got the desired effect because Mark had turned back toward her and arched a black eyebrow in her direction. "Please, I just need a few minutes." She was almost pleading. She had to tell him her thoughts on Mick before he tried killing the man. He folded his massive arms across his chest and made a motion with his hand as if to say 'Go on, then.' Kim rolled her eyes and looked up at him. "Alone." she said in a stern voice. He just stood there, staring at her. She heard a few of the guys behind her chuckle deep in their throats, but she didn't let that bother her. She watched as he continued to stand there, staring at her with that burning gaze of his. Then, he suddenly turned to look down at Paul. He rolled his shoulders, turned around, and said one simple word. A word that made her heart jump.

"Leave." Paul looked up at him incredulously, obviously shocked at his request. He stammered over his words as he tried to talk to him.

"B-But M-Mark. I don't think..."

"I said leave." he said in a deadly tone. Mark had his back to Paul and the other men as Paul stared at him for a few moments longer. He gave a slight nod as he motioned for the other men to go as well. There was hushed mumbles from the men as they complied and exited through the door. Paul had completely avoided eye contact with Kim as he passed her and, as he closed the door behind him, the two were left alone.

**** So I made this chapter considerably longer than the others. What do we think? Do we like the longer chapters (like this one) or a bit shorter (like the previous chapters) or do we just not care? Let me know =) Until then...**


	17. Chapter 17

If she wasn't nervous before she sure as hell was now. Mark had gone into the other room when the others had left, leaving her standing there with her heart pounding faster and faster by the minute. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly while running a hand through her hair. _'What now?'_ she thought as she stared through the doorway in which Mark had disappeared. She inched herself further into the room, wondering where he had vanished to, and hoped he planned on coming back. She had made it to the center of the room now, and took this time to take in her surroundings. This locker room was much bigger compared to the one Mark had when she was last here, although whenever they were alone together in his locker room they weren't usually spending the time complaining about the size of the place. No, whenever she got the chance she would sneak into his locker room and the two would…get acquainted with each other. She remembered one time in particular. It was the first time he had really made a move on her. Of course they had kissed before, but their endeavors never went beyond groping like they were still young teenagers. But this day was different, and she remembered it clearly…

.

.

.

.

"Hey Steph, I think I'm going to go take a walk. Cover for me?" Her Uncle hadn't figured out about her walks around the arena without the company of Stephanie or Shane, walks that have gotten more frequent since she had met Mark, and it was partly due to the fact that she would get her cousins to cover for her. Shane didn't mind when she asked but Stephanie was a daddy's girl, and she hated lying to her father. "Please?" she said in her most convincing voice.

"I don't know Kim. What if dad finds out?" Kim gave a sigh and looked at her cousin.

"Then tell him I convinced you to because I'm a bad influence. Come on, Steph…please do this for me?" Stephanie gave a reluctant look but eventually gave in; she always gave in to her.

"Fine…" Kim gave a wide smile "What should I tell dad?"

"Tell him I'm out with Shane. He won't be back for a while anyway."

"Okay, be careful and try not to run into anyone that knows about dad's rule."

"Will do. Thanks Steph." She gave her cousin a hug and hurried out the door. Mark's match had ended about a half an hour ago and she wanted to catch him before he left for the night. She rushed through the halls, careful not to be seen by anyone, when she finally made it to his door. It was cracked open a bit, so she decided to just walk in. From the looks of things she had just missed a good show because when she entered Mark was buttoning up his pants. He had changed into street clothes after his shower and it looked like he hadn't been out for long. He had his clothes on but his hair was soaked as it was left down to cascade over his shoulders. "Hey, you" she said as she entered his dressing room.

"Hey yourself." He replied as he smiled over at her. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm glad I caught you before you left." She said.

"And why's that?" His voice was a bit muffled as he was busy nuzzling her neck. She gave a sigh of contempt as her grip tightened on his neck. She pulled him away and pressed her lips against his.

"I wanted to see you." She whispered against his hot breath. He gave a wicked smile and lifted her up by her ass. Before she knew it he had her pinned up against the wall with her legs around his waist.

"Here I am." he said in a voice that made her shiver. In all her life, Kim had never met a man that made her feel like Mark did. He could reduce her to a puddle in a matter of seconds. He took advantage of her slight distraction and claimed her lips once again. He deepened the kiss as his tongue swept past her lips, causing Kim to grip his shoulders tighter. She let out a small moan as he made his way down her neck. He apparently didn't like the position they were in any longer and in one quick motion he swung around and placed her beneath him on the bench. Her hands immediately tangled themselves in his long hair as she brought his head down for a searing kiss that showed him just how much she wanted him. Mark had let a low growl escape from deep within his throat as he sat up to remove his shirt. She watched as his muscles rippled with each movement and she couldn't stop herself from running a hand up the length of his arm when he got back down to her level. She bit her lip as she looked up into his eyes. Without saying a word they both knew where this was going and Kim couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness. She had never been with a man before, so her nervousness was understood. She held his gaze as she tried to find a way to tell him that she was a virgin before this went any further.

"Mark…I..." before she could finish he placed a finger over her mouth then stroked the side of her face.

"I know." He said softly as he hovered over her. His hair had created a curtain of sorts so all that was in her view was his face. "Do you want this?" he asked in a serious tone. She bit her bottom lip and dropped her gaze from his intense stare.

"I-I don't know. I do but…" he grabbed the side of her face gently and forced her to look at him.

"Do you want this, Kimberly?" he asked again.

"I do, but I…I don't know if we should." She found it hard to get out a full sentence as he stared intently down at her.

"Then tell me you don't want this." He whispered huskily in her ear. She took in a sharp breath as his hand traveled the length of her side and rested on her hip. His head remained near hers as she felt his hot breath on her cheek.

"I-I can't" she said in a hushed tone. He nodded once and went to get up but she stopped him. "I meant I can't tell you that…because I do want this. More than anything." He stared at her a few moments longer then lowered himself onto her again.

"You're sure?" He said in a soft voice and she just nodded as she bit her lip again. Suddenly his lips came crashing down on hers once more as his hand came up and traced a path between her breasts and down to her stomach. She arched into his touch as she gave small moan. When he came to her jeans he snuck two fingers in the front and unsnapped them in one quick motion. Without breaking the kiss he ripped the jeans off and threw them across the room. Now it was time for the shirt. He took it by the hem and pulled it off of her body as quickly as he could. As soon as the shirt was off she practically lunged herself at him. She wanted to taste every inch of his mouth, and at the rate she was going she was sure to succeed. Mark gave another low growl as he made his way to her neck again. He ventured a little further this time and began nipping at the skin just below her collar bone. While he was preoccupied Kim had managed to grasp the zipper on his jeans and was just about to undo them when his hand shot out and stopped her. He flipped his hair over his right shoulder as he looked down at her. "And you're sure you want this?" he questioned again. He wanted to be sure, beyond a doubt, that she wanted him like this. In response she reached out again and grabbed him. He made a low noise in the back of his throat and rolled his eyes to the back of his head.

"Does that answer your question?" she whispered in his ear when she brought his head down to her level. He removed his hand as she began nibbling on his neck and she immediately unsnapped his jeans. She could feel him against her as she lay beneath him clad only in her bra and panties, and brought her knee up to feel him even further. She watched him closely, gauging his reaction to see if what she was doing was okay, and was greeted with a deep growl.

"Girl, if you keep that up I'm not going to last much longer," he said in a lustful baritone. She giggled at him as she brought her leg up again. His hand shot out and grabbed her before she could tease him and smirked down at her as he tried to catch his breath. Just as he was about to speak a loud serious of knocks sounded at the door. They both looked up and he stopped her with his arm when she tried getting up. "Don't even think about it." He said as he began assaulting her mouth again, causing a squeal to escape her lips. They had completely forgotten about the knocker until a familiar voice came bellowing through the door.

"Mark! I know you're in there. I need to talk with you." It was Vince. Mark gave a loud sigh as Kim sat up with wide eyes, not sure of what to do. Suddenly he looked at her and asked a question that made her jolt off the bench.

"Did you lock the door when you came in?"

"No!" she whispered in a panicked voice. She wiggled her way from under him and ran over to the opposite side of the room to grab her clothes. Just as she did Vince busted through the door and Kim hid herself behind a locker door. At this time Mark had stood and was in the middle of buttoning his pants.

"Am I interrupting something?" Vince asked as he entered Mark's dressing room.

"Not at all." Mark growled in response. Normally he would have told Vince off in a minute but since Kim was in the room, unbeknownst to her uncle, he decided to be a bit more…calm. "What do you want?" as the two men discussed business, Kim had managed to get her clothes back on and sneak out the door, not before giving an apologetic smirk to Mark, who nodded and smiled back.

.

.

.

.

Kim blushed immensely as the thought played through her mind and she bit her bottom lip. She shook her head to clear the thoughts from her mind and looked around the locker room once more. It was definitely nicer than the other one. It had to be double the size. It was clear that once Mark had proven himself in the company they had decided to make sure he was better accommodated in the back.

"Maybe it was better that I did leave." She said out loud. She heard someone clear their throat from behind her just as she said this and her heart leaped in her chest. She turned around slowly to find Mark standing in the doorway with a blank expression on his face. _'Did he hear me?'_ she thought frantically as she racked her brain for something to say. Before she could come up with anything Mark pushed himself from the door frame and sauntered towards her.

"You wanted to talk?" she guessed he didn't hear what she voiced aloud a few seconds ago, and was glad. She did notice the annoyance evident in his features. He obviously wanted to get whatever it was she had to say out of the way so he could get the hell out of there. When he was a few feet from her he stopped and stared down into her eyes. She found herself staring back, neither one saying a word. She noticed he had put on a shirt while he was back in the other room and was relieved he did. That's one less distraction she had to worry about. The only bad thing was that, although he was wearing a shirt now, it was tight enough to the point it showed off his well-toned upper body as it stretched across his massive chest. _'So much for less of a distraction'_ she thought in dismay. As he continued to stare down at her she couldn't help but glance at his arms once more. The tattoos were a bit more covered now that he had a shirt on but she could still see the majority. They were beautiful, she had to admit. She was brought out of her daze when he crossed his arms over his chest, causing her to look up into his eyes once more. She had only glanced at his arms but it was enough for him to notice because when she looked up at him, she saw a sly smirk play at the corner of his lips as he looked down at his arms as if something was there. _'Smartass'_ she thought as she once again felt her face heat up from embarrassment. Wanting to change the subject, and quickly, she took a deep breath and got right to the point.

"Did you hear what happened to Mick?" she said in quick succession. This seemed to take him off guard as a look of confusion overtook his features. Upon seeing the perplexed look on his face she continued before he could utter a reply. "He was attacked, Mark; in the boiler room." Kim looked up at him and watched as his confusion turned to amusement.

"And you think I had something to do with it." It was more of a statement than a question and Kim noticed that that amused look never left his eyes.

"Well I saw how…" she searched for the right word, "upset you were earlier and I just thought…"

"You thought that I jumped the man and beat the shit out of him." Kim tried to reply but Mark beat her to it. "If I were the one that did it you think I would need to attack him from behind?"

"Well no, but…"

"If _I_ were the one that attacked him he wouldn't be going to a hospital, because I would have killed him." He said this last part as he bent down to her eye level. As he straightened back up he began to turn around and walk away, as if he thought the conversation was over.

"Mark!" No response. "Hey!" She advanced on his retreating form and grabbed his forearm, causing him to turn around to face her. As her eyes met his she could see his anger rising, but she didn't let it intimidate her. Her own temper had flared and once that happened, hardly anything would make her back down. "Look, I never said you were the one that attacked him but you and I both know that if you would have seen him you would have hurt him." Suddenly the door to his locker room opened and Glen walked in, unaware of the argument ensuing inside.

"If you're done now," He said as he took her hand off of his arm. "You can leave." She looked up at him incredulously as he once again began to walk away from her. She looked over at Glen who had a bewildered look on his face, then back to Mark. She gave a dramatic sigh as she stormed off toward the door and opened it. Before she left she turned around and yelled to where Mark was.

"If you weren't being such a jackass you would have heard what I had to say. Mick wasn't the one who took that video, but I guess you don't give a fuck about that, do you?" for emphasis she slammed the door as hard as she could and slumped against it with her head in her hands. _'So much for a calm discussion' _she thought as she brought her head up.

Meanwhile Glen was still standing in the middle of the locker room trying to make sense of what just happened. That was, until, he heard a commotion coming from the other room followed by a loud bang that made him jump.

"Mark?" he asked as he entered the room opposite the main locker area. As he entered the first thing that caught his attention was the long table that usually stood near the far right wall turned over. It was dark in here but Glen was able to make out the various items that were once on the table were now scattered on the floor. He ran his hand along the wall until he found what he was looking for, the light switch. As he flicked the lights on he finally saw Mark standing on the far side of the room with his hands planted on the wall with his head down. Glen had to laugh when he saw what was near Mark's head on the wall…a large hole. "Doing some redecorating?" he asked, laughter evident in his voice. Mark brought his head up and gave his friend a deadly stare.

"Shut up, Glen."

"You know, if I didn't know any better I would say that that little girl had quit and effect on you." He was smiling from ear to ear now, and Mark let out a low growl.

"Glen…" his tone had gotten dangerous, but it didn't bother Glen in the least.

"I mean I don't think I _ever _saw you get that worked up over a woman. But it's understandable I guess…" Then he thought for a few moments and added, "With that little outfit she had on she would drive any man crazy." Glen was surprised it took him this long to retaliate, but apparently that last statement drove it home and before he knew it, Glen was being thrown several feet across the room. As his head connected with the wall he groaned in pain as he watched his friend storm out of the room. "This should be fun." He half groaned as he got up from his current position. He straightened himself up and rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, this should be _very_ fun." He said as he left in search of his friend. All the while he had that same goofy smile plastered on his face.

*****So this is my longest chapter yet =) Since there haven't really been any real "Mark and Kim" moments yet, I decided to add a little flashback in there. Hope you didn't mind =p. Please review and let me know what you think about the story so far…Every review I get inspires me to keep working on this, so don't be afraid to leave me something. ;) Until next time…**


	18. Chapter 18

Glen had strode out into the hallway in search of his rather moody friend when he ran into something that almost knocked him on his ass.

"Whoa, watch it there big red! You almost ran me over!" It was Triple H. Everyone in the back called him Hunter as opposed to his real name. There was enough Paul's as it was…Big Show, Hunter, Paul Bearer…it was just less confusing if the guys used their in ring names.

"Sorry man." Glen said as he rubbed the back of his head. "You haven't happened to see 'Taker lurking around would you?"

"Yeah, he went to…" before he could finish his sentence Glen had pushed him aside roughly, sending Hunter flying into a nearby table. "What the hell man!" he yelled as he tried regaining his balance. Glen didn't hear him though, too concentrated on what was happening on the monitor. After composing himself, Hunter had stomped over to where Glen currently was and looked up at the tall man, anger –and a bit of embarrassment- evident on his face. "You mind telling me why you shoved my ass into the catering table?" he almost yelled. "Hellooo?" he said as he waved a hand in front of the big man's face. He then turned his attention to the monitor to see what the hell had fascinated Glen so much. "Oh _shit…"_ he mumbled as he watched what was playing out on the screen. "She looks terrified. Is she supposed to be out there?"

"What do you think dipshit?" Came Glen's response. "I need to go find Mark before-"

"What's going on?" Came a gruff voice from behind them. Hunter nearly jumped out of his skin while Glen began cursing under his breath.

"Uh…" Hunter stammered out. "N-Nothing, just watching some of the…" he took a big gulp when he saw the look on Mark's face, "show?" he finished in a meek voice.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Vince yelled at anyone who happened to be within earshot as he made his way briskly down the hallway. "CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHO GAVE THAT BASTARD PERMISSION TO TAKE MY NIECE OUT THERE!" 'Taker looked from the now red Vince to Hunter who was blocking the monitor with his body.

"If you have any sense, boy, you'll move out of the damn way." He said in a dangerous tone. When Hunter didn't move quick enough 'Taker grabbed him by the collar and hurled him across the hall. When he saw what was on the monitor his blood began to boil. Stone Cold Steve Austin held a terrified looking girl by the back of her neck and was spitting something off at the mouth. Mark couldn't concentrate on what exactly it was he was saying because it wasn't just any girl he had held firmly against him, it was Kim, and by the looks of things she had no idea what was going on. His temper came to an all-time high when Austin snatched the girl roughly towards him and planted a hard kiss on her lips. That was his breaking point. He grabbed the monitor, ripped it off the wall, and stormed to the ramp way.

"Mark? Mark!" Glen was on Mark's heels trying to reason with him. "What do you plan on doing?" he was breathing heavily as he tried keeping up with the man in front of him. "Do you even have a plan?" he asked as he grabbed hold of Mark's arm. "Hello!" he yelled as he grabbed onto him. His grip wasn't strong enough, however, and Mark was able to yank his arm out of Glen's grasp without slowing his pace. Glen had given up trying to chase after him and was left standing in the middle of the hallway looking after his friend with both confusion and worry. When Mark had made it to the curtain he stopped and without looking in his direction, told one of the tech guys to cue his music. When the man only looked at the giant in confusion Mark glared at him with a look that would have scared the hell out of the devil himself.

"Now." He said in a deadly tone. The technician jumped and ran to the controls, cueing the ministry's theme music. As soon as the music hit Mark stormed onto the ramp, only to see Kim pushing Austin away from her harshly and Austin retaliating with his finisher, The Stone Cold Stunner. Mark ran to the ring, making many men wonder how a man as big as he could move so fast. As he slid under the ropes he greeted Austin with a series of blows to the head followed by a big boot, which knocked the surprised superstar out of the ring.

"What the hell is The Undertaker doing out here, JR?" Jerry 'The King' Lawler announced to his broadcasting partner, Jim Ross.

"I don't know King." JR announced back. "But I sure hope that young woman is all right." After making sure Austin wasn't coming back in the ring to finish what 'Taker had started, he brought his gaze down to Kim who was stirring slightly as she lay in the middle of the square circle.

"Oh no! You don't think he would…?"King questioned to his partner, unable to finish his sentence. Everyone watched in silence as 'Taker slowly made his way over to the woman who had just received a Stunner from Steve Austin, and knelt down. He put a hand on her shoulder tenderly, not sure if Austin had seriously hurt her. She grumbled in response when he touched her shoulder and looked up.

"Mark?" she asked in a pain filled voice then screwed her eyes shut once again.

"Can you stand?" he asked quietly, the edge never leaving his voice.

"I-I don't know." She replied as she looked up at him. He began to stand, taking her with him, until she was on her feet.

"He's helping her JR!" Jerry 'The King" screamed into the headset. "The Undertaker is actually _helping_ that woman." JR was too stunned to reply to his partner, as he just sat there and watched the most dangerous man who ever stepped foot in the ring help a small woman who was just attacked by Austin. As Kim got to her feet she suddenly felt a wave of dizziness overtake her as she began to collapse. She would have fallen straight to the canvas if not for Mark. He caught her quickly around the waste and picked her up to cradle her against his chest, her head resting just beneath his chin. "Wait a minute, JR, doesn't that woman look familiar?" Jerry said into the headset as he squinted to see the girls face.

"I was thinking the same thing, King." JR said with a hint of curiosity. Mark gave a pointed look at Steve, who was still standing on the outside of the ring against the barricade, then began to make his way out of there. Before he could even reach the ropes, however, the arena became dark and the jumbo screen lit up. Kim moaned in his arms as she was starting to come to and Mark just held her tighter. The screen flashed a brilliant white before a loud voice came over the speakers.

"Undertaker…" the voice said in an almost singsong voice. It was obvious the voice was altered to protect the speaker from being identified. "Oh Undertaker…" It sang in that same singsong tone again. "You have something that I want, Deadman." It said in a menacing voice. Just as it said this the screen flashed again and a video appeared on the titantron.

"Oh my god JR! I know who that woman is!" Jerry shouted to his partner. This video wasn't like the last, because, for one, it was not a video of Mark _and _Kim and, two, it was recently taken. The video showed a small brick home just on the outskirts of a small town. It was a beautiful day out, with the sun shining brightly and the sound of birds singing in the distance. Suddenly the door came open and out walked…Kim. She was wearing a pair of short jean shorts with a small white tank top, walking barefoot as she made her way down the steps and sat near the bottom. She had a cup in her hand as she looked over the horizon, seemingly day dreaming. Her day dreaming came to an abrupt end when a large dog, Harley, came barreling out of the house and managed to knock the cup out of her hand. It went flying out of her hands as most of it managed to get on her white shirt. Although you couldn't hear her, you could tell she was cursing up a storm as she glared at the dog who made it all the way to the other side of the yard. She threw her hands up in the air as she yelled something and stormed back in the house. That's where the video ended as the lights came back on and there was no sound coming from the mysterious voice that once came over the speakers. 'Taker's eyes never left the jumbo screen as he continued to stare at it as if the video were still playing. His eyes then shifted to the girl in his arms as he walked over to the ropes. Mark bent down, laying Kim gently on the mat, as he flipped backwards out of the ring. Turning back to her he carefully lifted her back up into his arms and carried her to the back while Austin, along with what seemed like everyone else in the arena, had a look of bewilderment on his face as if to say _"What the fuck just happened?"_

As soon as Mark got backstage he headed for the medics room, careful not to jolt Kim too much in his arms. She moaned again, he guessed from the pain, until she did something that made him falter in his steps. She moved slightly in his arms, snuggling further into his neck, and sighed his name. He furrowed his brows and looked down at her, stopping dead in his tracks when he heard his name escape her lips, but only for a moment. He shook his head and continued down the long hallway.

_**Kim's POV:**_

"Ugh!" She nearly screamed as she stomped down the hallway. "I try to have a calm, serious conversation with the man and what does he do? Act like a total jackass!" she was fuming over how Mark had acted. Making it seem like she had done something wrong. HAH! She was just being kind enough to warn him he was going after the wrong guy! Who he _should _go after, she didn't know. But she couldn't just sit around while she knew Mark was after Mick. "Why do I even try_?" _ She asked herself. "And where the hell am I!" she yelled to no one in particular. Apparently while she was off on her rampage she had taken a wrong turn and wounded up, somewhere she didn't belong.

"There you are!" came an unfamiliar voice. She turned to see who the owner of the voice was but was instead greeted by a rough yank of the arm as the man pulled her across the room.

"What the hell!" she screamed as she tried to free her arm from his steel grip. "Let go of me!"

"Save it for the ring, sweetheart." Came the man's rough reply. Okay so she was being hauled off to who knew where by a bald psychotic redneck. Great. And if he kept it up her other arm would be bruised before it was over. Before _what_ was over exactly, she didn't know. She was pulled onto what looked like a ramp positioned behind a curtain, but didn't stay there for long. Loud music blared from behind the curtain and baldy- as she decided to dub him- once again began pulling her to who knew where, all the while trying to fight him off and rip her arm out of his firm grasp. That was, until, she saw where he was leading her. Behind the curtain was, well, everyone. He was leading her out to the ring.

"Whoa! Wait! I think you got the wrong person!" she called out to him but either he pretended not to hear her or actually didn't. It wasn't that unbelievable due to the roaring crowd _plus_ the music that engulfed the arena. _'Oh shit'_ she thought as he tossed her into the ring. She tried reasoning with him once more, trying to tell him she had no idea what was going on, but he only hailed for a mic and grabbed her roughly by the back of the neck. Ok, now she was starting to get a little pissed off. She attempted to push him away but that only made him pull her flush against his body. As she tried to think of a way to get out of this mess she suddenly became aware of all the people staring at her. Well maybe they weren't starting at _her _precisely but they were staring at the scene her and baldy were making.

She hated crowds. Absolutely hated them. So, instantly, she became frozen on the spot…mildly aware baldy was talking but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She didn't want to. She just wanted to get the hell out of…She was brought out of her panicked state of mind when baldy brought his head down and crushed his lips against hers. _'What the fuck!'_ her mind screamed as she pushed him away as hard as she could. To her surprise he actually moved some distance from her only to give her an icy stare. Before she could move, or notice the other person who arrived on the ramp, she was face down on the canvas, suffering from one hell of a headache. She remembered not passing out right away and the ring bouncing for some reason. The next thing she knew someone had put their hand on her shoulder. _'Well it isn't baldy."_ She thought as pain coursed through her body. _'Last time I checked his touch wasn't that gentle. Maybe a medic from the back came out to…'_ She looked up then, expecting to see a medic or trainer or something. What she wasn't expecting was a pair of hypnotic green eyes staring back at her. "Mark?" she said out loud, not believing what she was seeing. She had to be hallucinating or something. Damn that baldy. But she wasn't, she soon realized, as Mark was helping her to her feet. Just as she thought she had her balance a sheet of blackness started to cloud her vision and she could feel her legs give out from under her. When she thought she would be reacquainted with the canvas for the second time that night she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her waist and, before she blacked out, she was aware of being lifted into someone's arms and a loud voice coming over the speakers. That was it. After that, everything went black.


	19. Chapter 19

***Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone except for my own ideas and concepts. All other credit belongs to the WWE.**

Numb. That's how she felt. Everything was just so…numb. She tried to open her eyes only to be greeted by an intense pain unlike anything she'd felt before. Closing them quickly she started to panic. What happened? She remembered collapsing in the ring, but what happened before that blurred together in her mind's eye. Wasn't someone there with her? Yes, someone had come to help her. Now if she could just remember…

As her mind tried to grasp a hold of the memory darkness once again consumed her as she faded back into the recesses of her mind.

"Kim?" The darkness that had swallowed her started to slowly fade from her conscience. "Kim? Wake up, Kim." Even the numbness she had become accustomed to was starting to fade more and more until she was left with an overbearing weakness. Soon that, too, started to fade as well. "Kim, come on. Please wake up." She recognized the voices that surrounded her. Voices that were slightly muffled and distorted. Voices that were fading in and out as she tried to pull herself out of the darkness that wanted to consume her so badly. "Is she awake yet?"

"Megan?" her voice was low and hoarse, barely audible even in the quiet room they were in.

"She is awake!" The next thing she felt was a heavy weight that not so gingerly plopped itself on her and started to squeeze with all its might.

"Will you…get off!" Kim almost yelled as she pushed Megan off of her. She pushed herself up on her elbow as she stared down at Megan who was now sprawled on the floor.

"Well _sorry_!" she drawled out. "But seeing as how we all thought you were dead I got a little excited when you finally woke up!"

"We did not think she was dead." Candice said as she rolled her eyes at Megan. Then looked over at Kim. "We were worried though. How do you feel?"

"Fine enough to throw me across the floor!" Megan huffed as she brushed herself off. Candice just rolled her eyes again, which was becoming a habit whenever she was around Megan.

"I'm fine" Kim said as she started to sit up more. "Can anyone tell me what happened out there? All I remember is being in the ring and the next thing I knew I was knocked the hell out." Candice looked to Megan, who looked back to her. Each exchanging worried looks to the other.

"You sure you wanna know?" Megan asked in a meek voice.

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise." Megan just looked back to Candice, hoping she would be the one to tell her. They both knew that if Kim found out what happened in the ring earlier that night, she would be _livid._ Candice gave a heavy sigh, ready to tell Kim what happened and also ready to hold her back from going to Austin's dressing room to kick his ass, but then the door to the medic's room _flew _open and Vince rushed in.

"How is she?" he all but yelled to the girls, before seeing Kim sitting up on the bench. "Oh thank God!" he yelled again, running over to her to envelop her in his arms.

"U-Uncle…I'm fine! Really!" she managed to get out with the small amount of air he left her with. Vince let go of her only to hold her a few inches away from his face.

"Are you sure?" he turned her body this way and that, then went to her head to check for injuries. "You don't feel dizzy or weak or…" Before he could finish Kim grabbed his hand and gave a small chuckle. He was always worrying about her.

"Uncle, I'm fine." She smiled at him to let him know she was telling the truth. "Now will someone please tell me what happened?" Vince looked at his niece in a bit of confusion.

"You don't remember what happened, honey?" he asked as he looked into her eyes. Kim just shook her head in response.

"All I remember is being in the ring and then I was knocked out. I can't remember much else." Vince blinked a few times then let out a shaky breath.

"Well," he began as he took a hold of her hands and helped her to her feet, "There was a small skit planned for tonight with Austin and one of the Diva's. Apparently," he said with a pinch of disgust in his voice, "The Diva wasn't where she was supposed to be on time and thinking you were her…Austin grabbed you for the skit."

"So how did I end up face down on the mat?" she asked still a bit confused over the whole thing. Vince just rubbed the back of the neck and looked up at her apologetically.

"Austin…" Was all that escaped his lips but that was enough to tell her what she needed to know. Before anyone could do or say anything Kim jumped up off the bench and was heading straight for the door, pissed beyond belief. Vince was the first to react as he rushed over to grab her before she could do anything drastic.

"Wait a second!" he said as he spun her around. "Now, honey, this isn't his fault," Vince said, even though only a few minutes before he had damned near fired the man for what he did. If it wasn't for Stephanie, who had to literally drag her father away, Austin would currently be out of a job. "He was only doing his job. He thought you were trained for the skit but he didn't know he had grabbed the wrong girl. Now, although he does that move quite often, if someone isn't trained on how to properly take it, it can seriously hurt them. Now calm down, you don't need to over exert yourself." He took her by the arm and began to gently lead her back to her seat before Kim yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"So it was all an act?" she asked loudly, still somewhat confused.

"Not the part where Mark stormed out there and beat the hell out of Austin!" Megan all but yelled, then clapped her hand over her mouth when Candice elbowed her in the side. "Oops." She said quietly.

"What?" Kim asked unbelievably as she looked to her uncle. "Mark was out there?"

"He saw what Austin was doing on the monitor," Vince began calmly, as if it were no big deal, "and as if he knew what was going to happened ran out there to stop him. He _has_ been working with the man for years, so it's no surprise he guessed where the skit was going." Vince finished, then changed the subject. "I'm going to send the medic in here to take a look at you. If all is well you'll be sent to a private room I booked for you and your friends. I want you to get plenty of rest before we leave for the next show."

"Leave?" Kim asked, getting confused all over again. "I'm sorry uncle but I think the best thing would be for me to go back home." Vince looked over at Kim and a look of realization dawned on him.

"That's right; you were out before they showed it."

"Showed what? What are you talking about?"

"Just wait here. I'll be right back." Kim looked over to Candice and Megan, hoping they would clue her in on what her uncle was talking about. Megan already had her head lowered so she was staring at the floor and Candice was slowly looking away as well.

"You know guys, this much confusion is not good for someone who has a head injury!" she yelled, eliciting no response from her friends. Vince returned a few minutes later holding a video tape in his hands. Kim looked from him to the tape, then back to her uncle's eyes with confusion swimming in her own. Vince motioned for her to sit as he put the tape in the VCR and hit play. Kim complied, still confused, and sat between Candice and Megan. The two girls scooted over to allow enough room for their friend to sit, and watched intently for her reaction. Candice and Megan had, of course, already known what Vince was going to show her. When Candy had finally found Megan after a half an hour or more of looking –Megan had been doing exactly what she had thought. She was in the gym flirting with a group of muscle bound idiots and when Candice saw her, she dragged Megan out of there kicking and screaming.- they came across a big monitor somewhere near the gym that was showing Austin in the ring with Kim held closely to him. They witnessed it all. The kiss between Austin and Kim- which made both Candice and Megan gasp in shock and disgust- The stunner Kim received, courtesy of Austin –At which point Candice was ready to go down to the ring herself and beat the shit out of the man- The beat down Austin received when Mark rushed down to the ring. –Which promptly made Megan jump up and down in excitement and stopped Candice from going out there- and what Vince was now showing Kim, the video. Their eyes were glued to Kim, while her own were intently watching the TV in front of her. What played out before her was a recording of the night's show. More specifically, it was a recording of her little 'skit' with Austin. She watched as Austin held her roughly by the arm and dragged her to the ring, making her absentmindedly rub the place on her arm where he had grabbed her. She watched herself being thrown into the ring, all the while trying to fight Austin off. Then came the kiss and finally the Stunner. Of course the video started to jog her memory somewhat and she could recall the incidents leading up to the Stunner. It was the events after that she was interested in. What was now playing on the small television in the medic's room showed Kim what had went on when Austin basically knocked her out. And, even though she was told Mark had come to her rescue before the tape was put in for her viewing pleasure, it still made an astonished gasp escape her lips as she watched him come running urgently to her aid. She saw the anger his eyes held as he ran down the ramp, the fury behind his blows as he knocked Austin out of the ring and the…gentle way he walked over to her and picked her up in his arms. Kim couldn't help but blush as she saw how close their bodies were as he held her close to his frame. The rosiness on her cheeks soon disappeared when she saw the arena go completely dark and the titantron turn a blindingly white. Then a voice came over the speakers but she couldn't catch what was said. "Turn it up." she said to whoever was closest to the TV, which turned out to be her uncle. He did as she asked and that's when she heard what the voice was saying. _'Something he wants? What the hell does Mark have that he…' _A video. Another damn video appeared on the jumbo screen and Kim felt her jaw go slack. "Me?" she said out loud and that's when Vince turned off the television.

"You see Kimberly," He began, "whoever it is that's doing this…they know where you live." It was easy to see how Vince's once calm features suddenly twisted with anger and enmity. "I can't let you go home knowing whoever this is wants…" he was going to saw 'you' but thought better of it. "Wants something from you."

"But it's probably just some creep who wants to get into Marks head. Look, I'll be perfectly fine just…"

"No." Kim blinked a few times and looked over at Candice.

"What?" Kim asked as she looked over to her friend in astonishment. "If anyone would agree with me on this I thought it would be you Candy." Candice looked up at her closest friend and gave a sigh.

"You were right. Out in the hallway earlier…you were so right." Seeing the look on Kim's face she looked away and continued to speak. "You said that the first video that was shown was probably not the only one. That whoever was doing this had something against you or Mark and that's probably why they showed something like that in the first place."

"Candice…" Kim said as she rolled her eyes.

"If they were against you and Mark why would a _recent_ video of _you_ be shown tonight?" she almost shouted, then calmed her voice somewhat as she continued. "I don't know who this person is or why they're doing this, but I do know they know where you live. I don't know what they'd do, if anything, if they got their hands on you, Kim. I know I'm not willing to find out and neither is Megan or Vince." Kim looked around at Megan first, who just nodded her head in agreement, then to her uncle. Vince had his arms crossed over his chest and a look on his face that held no room for disagreement. At that moment she knew she had no say in the matter anymore. She was stuck there, with the company she ran away from so many years ago, until they figured out who this monster was that chose to ruin her life.

****I was quite fond of this chapter once I was done. I was in a sort of poetic mood when I started and I believe it turned out quite well. I hope my readers agree =) I want to thank my obvious avid readers (Ashley, Bingobaby, and tanya2byour21) for their constant feedback and kind words and praise. It means so much to me to hear what you think of my story. I also want to thank all the people that favorited this story or added it to the alert list and to **_**everyone**_** who has reviewed so far. I love you all =) Anyway…please review, I love reading them, as lame as it sounds they make my day =p Tell me what you think so far, how you think I can improve, your thoughts on what you think is going on etc. If you have any ideas you think could add to the story feel free to PM me. If I like it enough I might add it in and of course give you credit. Man, this author's note is a novel in itself, lol. Until next time…**


	20. Chapter 20

Glen just watched as Mark opened the door to his dressing room and headed for his bag. He had been waiting for his old friend so he could confront him on his little rescue mission from before. "Glad you could make it." He said nonchalantly as he got up from the bench. "So where are you off to now? Going to slay some dragons, rescue some more damsels in distress, what?" Mark sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face.

"What the hell are you talking about, Glen?" He said in an irritated voice. Glen was like his brother but sometimes he knew just how to push Mark's buttons.

"Oh just that little rescue mission you went on earlier." Glen said as he leaned against the wall with his head titled to the side. Mark shot Glen a deadly glare, silently warning him not to go any further with the subject. This made Glen laugh as he pushed himself off the wall. "It was pretty amazing you know. I mean, as soon as Austin planted that kiss you her lips you were gone." Glen could see Mark grab the shelf next to him and only watched as his grip tightened causing his knuckles to turn white. "I just want to know one thing." He said as he walked over to Mark and placed a hand on his tense shoulder. "If it were anyone else, would you have gone out to that ring?" With that Glen took his hand off of his friends shoulder and proceeded to walk out of his dressing room, leaving Mark frozen by the lockers.

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"It's huge!" Megan exclaimed as she entered the room Vince had arranged for them. 'Room' wasn't even the word for it. This was a suite.

"That's what she said." Candice said and laughed when Megan threw what looked to be a very expensive pillow at her face. Kim just shook her head and laughed as she entered the suite. She had to admit, it was stunning. The walls were painted a beautiful shade of red with gold trimming that went through the length of the room. The gold and red theme seemed to flow throughout the suite as Kim looked further. The curtains were a beautiful shade of red, a bit darker than the walls, and the pillows were all the same color with gold trim. There were two large beds in the first room, each with an elegant golden-white comforter pulled back to expose dark red sheets. The suite had wooden floors throughout, she noticed as she ventured further into the room. Off to the side of the bedroom was a small 'living' area and adjacent to that was a kitchen.

"Dad wanted to be sure you stayed so he pulled out all the stops." All three girls whirled around at the sound of Stephanie's voice. Kim smiled at her cousin, who just a minute before scared the hell out of her, and went over to hug her. She was about to comment on how beautiful the room was when a thought crossed her mind that caused a wave of panic to wash over her.

"Where's Harley!" she nearly shouted. With everything that was going on she had forgotten all about him.

"He's fine." Steph said, chuckling at the panic in Kim's voice. "When you were…indisposed…Dad sent Harley back home. He even hired a dog sitter to watch him while you're away."

"Vince shipped my dog all the way back to Michigan? Without telling me…"

"Uh-oh." Megan whispered as she pulled Candice into the other room. Steph looked nervously over at Kim and gave an apprehensive laugh.

"Well you have to remember, since you're going to be traveling with us for who knows how long not all the hotels we stay at are pet friendly. Where would you keep him?"

"I would have found a place!" Kim yelled. She loved that dog like he was family and hated the idea that Vince had just shipped him off without letting her see him. _Plus_ there was the fact that Harley hated to be alone._ 'There goes my clean house'_ she thought. Whenever Harley was left in the house for a long period of time he would wind up tearing up the place.

"Kim." Stephanie said as she grabbed her cousin by the shoulders, "With everything that's going on, you really think you needed the added stress of taking care of Harley?"

"You're right." She said after a few moments, realizing the truth in her words. It felt wrong to say but she honestly didn't think she could deal with taking care of Harley right now. Too much was going on for her to concentrate on him as well as what was going on with her…stalker. Even the thought of that word made chills run up and down her spine. "Tell Vince I said thank you so much for the room. It's unbelievable." She hugged her cousin once again as she bid everyone farewell when Candice and Megan felt it was safe to walk back into the room. As soon as the door closed Kim threw herself on the bed closest to her.

"I'm beat." She said through a yawn.

"That's what she said!" Megan shouted from across the room, causing Candice to choke on the water she was currently drinking.

"Good one." She said through her laughter, making Megan beam. Kim just chuckled softly, not having the energy to do much else, and flipped off both of her friends, making them burst into a new fit of laughter.

Later that night, in the darkness that seemed to flood the entirety of the room, Kim awoke with a start and sat up straight in bed. Her body was covered in sweat as a series of shivers started to rip through her. The cool night air touched her bare shoulders once more before she realized where it was coming from. Someone had opened one of the windows located in the room, specifically the one closest to her bed. "If they were so damned hot why didn't they open the one closer to them." She grumbled as she got out of bed to close it. Just as she reached the window someone grabbed her from behind and shoved a rag in her face. The person's grip was impossibly tight as she tried to free herself from his grasp. This only made him tighten his grip more as he held the rag firmly over her nose and mouth. When the aroma of chloroform invaded Kim's senses she could feel herself grow weak. Her eyes began to close and she felt her heart rate slow. When the man that held her –she decided it had to be a man from the amazingly tight grip he had on her body- was convinced she was out, he flipped her over and leered into her face. She heard him speak, before she blacked out completely, and with a tightening ball of dread in her stomach realized where she had heard that voice before.

"He thought he could keep you from me." He said in that deep baritone that could only be achieved if it were altered on a video clip. "But I finally have what I've always wanted…You!"

A loud gasp broke the silence that had fallen over the hotel room as Kim shot up out of bed and stared, wide eyed, into the darkness. She held a shaking hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath and, with a familiar feeling of dread, instantly stopped breathing when she felt cold air hit her bare shoulders. She peered slowly to her left, praying she didn't see an open window as she did in the nightmare she had only moments ago, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was only the air conditioner blowing cold air across the room. She fell back in the bed, still breathing heavy from that dream, and continued to stare up at the ceiling. _'What the hell was that about?'_ she thought to herself, not trusting her voice at the moment. She thought back to the nightmare, reliving every emotion she felt as the man from the video grabbed her, and ran a hand through her hair. _'That was insane. Wonder what brought it on…as if I have to ask'_ she sighed softly into the still air of the room and looked over to her two friends to see if she had woken anyone from her frightening dream. She hadn't, and was glad. With a grunt she rolled out of bed and padded quietly over to the bathroom, closing the door behind her before flicking on the light. Walking over to the mirror she looked at herself and wasn't surprised to see circles under her eyes.

"Well," she said aloud, "it could be worse, I guess." She put a little make-up under her eyes, figuring she'd go take a walk around the hotel to clear her mind, and quietly made her way out of the room. She wore her usual bed clothes which consisted of loose pajama pants and a small tank top as she made her way down the hall. Her pants were black with a red Chinese dragon going up the side of one leg and the tank she wore was black as well. As she walked, she traced her hand along the patterns on the wall and let her mind wonder. What it wondered to didn't surprise her in the least because what she found herself thinking about was Mark. He had saved her; he had come to her aid and carried her out of the ring. She had to thank him, there was no way around that. How she was going to do that was still a mystery to her. The last time she had a confrontation with Mark the two had wound up arguing and ended with her storming out of his locker room. _'This isn't going to be easy.'_ She thought as she rounded the corner, almost immediately wishing she hadn't. What greeted her was Sable talking with one of her whore-mates in the middle of the hall. Kim turned around, prepared to take the other hallway she had seen while coming this way, and froze when she heard Sable speak.

"Oh look who is it, Tori. And in her cute little pajamas, too." Tori instantly made a dramatic 'aww-ing' sound and Kim rolled her eyes as she turned around.

"Nice to see you too, Sable and whore-friend." She said in a sickly sweet voice with a fake smile plastered on her face. She dropped the act as her face became serious once more. "I'm just walking around, I'm not starting anything." She began to walk past the pair when the one named Tori grabbed her by her upper arm and spun her around harshly. _'Do I have a sign on me that says Please Grab Me Here?' _She thought as she winced at the pain in her arm.

"I don't think we were done talking yet, bitch!" she said audibly, making Kim aware of the fact that both women were very drunk. Kim pulled her arm out of Tori's hands and shoved the other woman with as much force as she could muster, causing Tori to slam into the opposing wall.

"Next time you want to grab someone," she said in a dangerous tone. "You might want to think twice." With that she walked away, not even bothering to look at Sable.

"How come every time I see you, you seem to be in an argument with that woman?" Kim jumped at the sudden voice that came from behind her and spun around. She smiled with relief when she saw who was leaning against the wall.

"Hey Paul." She said as she watched him push himself from the wall and saunter over to her. "And I wasn't in an argument with her, I was in an argument with her friend." Paul laughed at this and stopped when he stood a few feet in front of her.

"What takes you out here in the middle of the night anyway? We can't have a pretty thing like you walking all alone at night." This made Kim blush as she looked up at him.

"I think I can hold my own." She said as she motioned over to Tori, who was still lying on the floor. Paul laughed again and held his arm out to her. She took it and the two walked side by side down the hall.

"So I'm glad to see you're still alive." He said after a few minutes of walking. Kim looked up at the big man with confusion.

"Why wouldn't I be alive?" she chuckled in response. He looked down at her as his face took on a more serious tone.

"Well I'll be honest with you. I was a little nervous about leaving you at 'Taker's door like that." It took her a few seconds to grasp his meaning and then she smiled.

"So you thought he was going to kill me?" she asked him with laughter in her voice. This made him chuckle. It did sound kind of silly when you put it like that.

"Not exactly. But 'Taker can be a pretty intense guy." After a slight pause he continued. "Did anything…happen?" She caught onto his meaning and smiled.

"He didn't hurt me if that's what you're getting at. And neither did his…friends." She had to think of a word to describe the men that were in Mark's locker room. She still didn't know who they were exactly.

"Oh you mean the ministry?" Paul asked looking down at his new friend. When he saw the look of confusion in her eyes he laughed. "The ministry. Edge, Christian, Viscera," He began to count off the names on his fingers, "Gangrel, Bradshaw, and Farooq. It's a part of the storyline 'Taker's in right now. On camera they're like his followers, off camera they just like to hang out." He shrugged, as if it were common knowledge.

"Did you just say Christian?" Kim asked as she stopped in her tracks. _'The smaller blonde.' _She thought. _'I thought I recognized him.'_

"Yeah why? You know him?" Paul asked as he stopped as well. Kim just shook her head as she started to walk again with Paul in tow.

"I used to." She said and from the tone of her voice Paul knew not to press the subject. She didn't sound angry, more like…sad. His first thought was that maybe that had dated, but shrugged it off. It was none of his business anyway. When she stopped a second time Paul looked down at her with a bit of worry in his eyes.

"You okay, honey?" he asked as he bent down a little to see her face.

"There's something I need to do." She said as she looked down at the floor. She peered up into his face and continued. "And I need your help."


	21. Chapter 21

"I need you to tell me where Mar…erm…'Taker's room is." Paul looked down at her with an unreadable expression on his face, turned, and continued to walk down the hall.

"Paul! Where…where are you going!" when his only response was to keep walking, she sighed and ran after him. "Hey!" when that had no affect she reached out and grabbed his arm. Giving an audible sigh upon feeling the smaller woman's hand on his arm, Paul slowed down and finally turned to face her.

"Look, I felt bad enough when I left you at his locker room. There's no way I'm going to take you to his _hotel _room." He began. "Besides, it's the middle of the night and I doubt he'd be up anyway." He looked toward her again and immediately wished he hadn't. She was giving him the most pitiful look she could muster. "No, No, No, No, No. You're crazy if you even _think _I'm going to wake up the deadman. Hell, I'd be a dead man if I did!"

"Oh come on, Paul," Kim said, pleading with her eyes. "Look, you don't even have to come with me. Just tell me where his room is and I'll go by myself. You can just tell yourself that you convinced me not to and I went back to my room if that makes you feel better." Then as an added thought, "Please?" It was the look she was giving him. A look that could melt a man's heart and force him to surrender in to doing anything. He gave a sigh, rubbed the back of his neck, and then exhaled deeply.

"Before I agree," he began and saw Kim beam with delight that she got him to surrender, "just tell me one thing…why do you want to see him so much?" then, before she could utter a reply, Paul's face turned in to one of alarm. "You're not some crazy stalker fan, are you?" This made Kim burst in to a fit of giggles that she had to suppress by holding her hand over her mouth, so she wouldn't wake anyone that might be trying to sleep. This just confused Paul even more as he stared at the girl who was currently having a laughing fit in the middle of the hallway. Trying to find her voice through the laughter that was racking her body, Kim took a deep breath and looked up at Paul once again.

"No!" she said in a whisper. "I told you, he's an old friend. I just have to thank him for…helping me." She wasn't sure if Paul knew about the incident with Austin, so she didn't go further in to the subject. Paul smiled as relief washed over his face.

"Good because I've come to like bumping in to you around here. Would hate to see 'Taker throw you out on your ass for stalkin' him." A deep chuckle emanated from his chest as he saw her cheeks flush. "Ah I'm just kiddin' short stuff!" he said as he threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Since her arm was still bruised first from the asshole at the gas station then from Austin the day before, Kim winced at the contact when Paul put his arm around her. Immediately, he withdrew his arm and looked at her with concern.

"Sorry, arms are still a bit sore I guess." She looked up at him sheepishly and shrugged as if it were no big deal. He looked in her eyes, then his gaze drifted to her arms. A look of anger and disgust flashed across the big man's face as he saw what marked this young woman's skin. On one arm was a nasty bruise in which finger marks could clearly be seen. It had an ugly yellow tinge to it, which told Paul it had happened a few days ago. On her other arm she bore a similar bruise, but this one was not as severe. It did not have the same yellowing quality as the other, so he figured she got that one when Austin had grabbed her. The fact that he was staring down at the bruises on her arm was starting to make Kim slightly uneasy. Then, at last he spoke.

"Now I know that one" he pointed to the smaller, fresher bruise. "Probably happened when Austin grabbed you and drug you to the ring."

'_Well,'_ she thought, _'Now I know he saw last night's show.'_

"But that one…" he pointed to the larger bruise on her other arm, and didn't say anything for a few seconds. When he did speak, his voice was filled with animosity as it rose in the quiet hallway. "Who the hell did that to you!" She flinched at the volume of his voice and backed up a few steps.

"Paul, it's no big deal. I-" But she was cut short by Paul's booming voice.

"No big deal? Some scumbag grabs you so violently to leave something like _that _on your arm and it's no big deal?" she was racking her brain for something to say, anything that would calm this once gentle giant, so it wasn't surprising when she failed to notice Paul's eyes grow wide as he took a few steps back of his own.

'_What do I say? Oh it was just some guy I had slept with a few days ago? Or it was just someone looking for a good time? In his state of mind Paul would probably go looking for the ass and break him in half.' _She had taken a few more steps back until she hit something hard. Thinking it was the wall that had stopped her, she didn't immediately move. That was, until, she heard a deep rumble from directly behind her.

"Is there a problem?" The voice stated sourly. A bit taken aback, Kim spun around in surprise as a small gasp escaped her lips.

'_Fuck' _was the only thing she thought as her eyes locked with the man she had accidently backed into.

"T-'Taker…I-uh…she…we were just…" Paul was obviously tongue tied as he tried to formulate words, a task which was proving to be quite impossible. Mark's eyes never left hers as Paul tried to come up with something to say, and she was officially lost in those emerald pools as she tried to regulate her breathing. It wasn't until he raised an eyebrow at her did she realize how close she was still standing to him, chests almost touching. She felt her cheeks grow hot as she quickly regained her baring's and backed away from him.

"He saw my arms and wanted to know what happened." She said in a rush, interrupting Paul's ramblings. "Sorry if we woke you." Mark looked up to where Paul was standing, then back down at her.

"And?" he asked in his deep voice as he penetrated her with his gaze. Kim's eyes grew wide as she looked up at him.

"W-What?" she asked, her throat suddenly becoming dry as she stared up at the man before her. He motioned to her arms, then crossed his own across his chest.

"Oh." she squeaked out._ 'Why does he care?' _She thought as she turned her gaze toward him again. "Some, um, drunk grabbed me in a parking lot, and his friend struck Candice when she tried to help. Shane was there though, so they left." She found she had averted her eyes from Mark to look at Paul, hoping he didn't explode like he had only moments before. To her relief he looked too caught up in the fact that they had probably woken up The Undertaker to even acknowledge her statement. "And the other one is from Austin." She said as a second thought.

"Sorry if we woke you, 'Taker," Paul said quickly before she could say anything else. Kim could easily detect the nervousness in his voice, and was willing to bet Mark could as well. "Um, Kim, I-uh, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" With that he turned around and quickly left down the hallway they had previously walked down. Kim couldn't help but roll her eyes and give a soft chuckle. Paul might have been a giant, but he seemed to want no part in a recently woken up Undertaker. That thought caused her to remember the man standing behind her and she quickly turned around…only to find him gone.

"What the hell?" Kim said aloud. "Where'd he go…" she walked straight down the hallway turned the corner, and found that hall vacant as well. "How a man as big as him just disappears I'll never know." She said softly to herself and began to head back to the room she was sharing with Candice and Megan.


	22. Chapter 22

"So what time are we leaving?" Megan asked as she continued to pack her bags. Vince had told the girls he would fly them out to the next show with everyone else, and would give each of them their plane ticket the next morning.

"I think he said around 7. Kim, do you remember?"

"I'm pretty sure you're right." Kim grunted from the other room. Megan chuckled and shouted in her direction.

"You need help in there?" After hearing a loud crash coming from the room Kim was occupying followed by a string of curses that would leave a sailor blushing, both girls rushed to see if she was okay. Upon seeing her friend lying on the floor with clothes all around her, Candice couldn't contain her laughter, which caused her friend to throw a hateful glare her way. Megan was also having a hard time controlling the laughter that wanted to come forth, and finally she exploded into a fit of giggles.

"If you two are about done," she began as she pushed the clothes off of her, "would you mind giving me a hand?"

"What even happened?" Candice was able to get out through her laughter. Kim just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What does it look like? The damn suitcase broke!" she shouted. "I don't have time for this. We have to meet Vince downstairs in an hour and I still need to get ready." She ran a hand through her hair and was about to bend down to gather the clothes which had wound up on the floor when Candice grabbed her arm.

"We'll get this," she said as her laughter started to die down. "Just go get ready so we can leave."

"Thanks Candy." As she passed Megan, who was still giggling like mad, she elbowed her in the side, making the girl almost topple over. 

"Hey! What was that for?" Megan yelled after her. She looked to Candice for backup who just rolled her eyes and threw Megan some of the clothes from the busted suitcase.

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"Girls!" Vince yelled from the front lobby of the hotel. Kim was still busy getting ready so Candice and Megan decided to head downstairs to get their plane tickets.

"Hey, Vince." Candice greeted as he gave her and Megan a light kiss on the cheek.

"Your tickets." He said as he handed over 3 white passes. "And where might my niece be?" He said as he waved for a man in a blue suit and tie to collect their baggage.

"Still getting ready." Candice said, "She had a little episode while getting the bags packed so she's running a bit behind." Megan snorted at this, earning a chuckle from Vince.

"Well let's hope she hurries up. The car will be here soon."

**Meanwhile...**

"Okay. I've got my makeup, clothes, haven't left anything in the drawers…I think I'm good." Kim was doing a last check around the hotel room to make sure they didn't forget anything. "It's just my luck to arrive all the way in Tampa and realize I forgot something." She said aloud. Chuckling to herself she grabbed her leather jacket- adorned in chains and patches where the leather had ripped-, her bag, and was headed out the door when she happened to catch a glance of herself in the mirror. It wasn't really herself she was looking at, but the jacket. It was made of worn black leather that seemed faded in spots and was a bit too big for her. That wasn't much of a surprise because it had been her fathers. He wasn't a large man by any means, but he was still bigger than her 5'7 frame. She remembered all the times they had spent together on the cars he had kept out in the garage, and it was memories like these that made her miss him terribly. After he died her mother sold everything he owned, including the cars, to support her "habit". The only thing Kim managed to save was his leather jacket, and she would continue to wear it until it could be worn no more. She breathed in deeply to see if it still held his scent, and was surprised to find out it did. A very faint smell of sandalwood and peppermint greeted her and she smiled as a single tear slid down her cheek. What she wouldn't give to have him here with her again, if only for one more day. She missed his crooked smile, his dry sense of humor, and his contagious laughter. "I love you dad." She whispered into the jacket, and closed her eyes. Suddenly a loud knock came at the door causing her to jump and knock a small lamp off the table. "Shit!" she said as she tried to pick up the lamp and return it to its spot. Yanking the door open she half expected to see Candice or Megan telling her to hurry her ass up but, instead, was greeted by Paul.

"Hey Big Baby… I mean Show!" She said with a laugh.

"Oh so we think we're funny today, huh?" he said as he grabbed her and put her in a head lock.

"Ow! Ow! Okay, I give!"

"Say uncle!" he shouted as the smile never left his lips.

"Uncle! Uncle!" When he released her she glared up at him hatefully, but a smile broke out and she punched him in the arm.

"Now look what you did. You messed up my hair." She said as she went back into her room to fix what Paul had done. He followed her while playfully holding his arm against his side.

"Better than what you did to my arm!" he shouted and she gave him a cheeky grin.

"Oh please, you didn't even feel it." She said through her laughter. Unbeknownst to the two, someone had watched their little interaction from the hall.

**Downstairs…**

"Hey Mark!" Sable had come down the stairs and saw him talking to a few people by the lobby doors. He just nodded in return and continued talking to Bradshaw. Tori had walked up behind her and now stood at her side. "Well at least someone's having a good time," She said, loud enough for Mark to hear, to the blonde beside her.

"Who's having a good time?" Tori asked, not entirely sure what her friend was talking about.

"Oh, no one," she began again, still in that slightly elevated voice, "Just that McMahon girl everyone's been talking about."

"Stephanie?" Now Sable had to pinch the bridge of her nose to stop herself from slapping Tori upside the head.

"_No, _not Stephanie. McMahon's niece." She smiled to herself when she saw Mark turn his head slightly in her direction. "In fact, she's up there now with Show in her hotel room. Wonder what _they're_ doing." She laughed and began walking away with Tori on her heels.

"What was that all about?" she asked Sable, still slightly confused. "Why would you care what that bitch?"

"Oh, just a little payback." Was the only response she received. Sable knew Vince's niece still had a thing for Mark. She knew it by the way she looked at him. She just didn't want Mark getting any idea's since they _had _had a relationship together. Not that she had anything to worry about competition wise, she was a knockout and that girl was, well, a girl! Now that Mark –and soon everyone else in the locker room- thought she was having an affair with The Big Show, Mark would be hers for the taking. They probably were fucking in her room anyway; Sable had no doubt in her mind.

**Upstairs again…**

"Why are you here anyway?" Paul plopped on the freshly made bed while she was in the bathroom fixing her hair. _'Women' _he thought with a roll of the eyes.

"Vince was looking for you so I thought I'd come up here to see if you were about ready."

"Well I would have been if not for you." She said as she threw one of the couch pillows at him from the doorway of the bathroom. He laughed deep in his throat as he sat up.

"Well you know me. I'm a big trouble maker."

"More like big baby if you ask me." She mumbled.

"What was that?" She jumped when she saw Paul standing in the doorway, which made him laugh some more.

"Don't you come over here! We'll both be late for our flight if you keep it up." She laughed at the goofy expression on his face and pushed past him to get her bags. "Ready?"

"I have been for half an hour now, woman." She hit his arm playfully as they exited the room. He grabbed his own bags as they headed down the stairs with everyone else, ribbing each other the whole way.

Mark was just about to head outside when he heard laughter behind him. He turned and saw Kim and Paul coming down the stairs, bags in hand. "What's up, man?" Glen. How convenient. He pushed his sunglasses over his eyes, grabbed the rest of his bags, and headed out the door without a word to anyone. Glen looked after him, a bit confused and more than a little pissed off, until he heard laughter in the lobby. Turning around he saw something that made him laugh loudly to himself –which also made a few employees look at him in confusion and a bit of fright-. "Is someone a little jealous?" he asked no one in particular and began following his friend outside.


End file.
